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Opinion
Commentary: 3-proposal EISD bond election offers viable options
Thursday, October 7, 2010
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By Eanes school board member Robert Durkee
Special to the Picayune
On Nov. 2, voters will have the opportunity to decide what the future will hold for the 7,600 students of Eanes Independent School District for decades to come. Three proposals, which address critical facility and technology needs at all campuses, elementary school needs, and extracurricular facility needs at Westlake High School, will be on the ballot. More information on the projects to be funded by this bond program can be found at www.eanesisd.net.
Under the leadership of Dr. Nola Wellman and her team of principals and administrators, every school in Eanes ISD has been rated Exemplary by the Texas Education Agency for the past three years. Over the past five years ACT, SAT, and TAKS scores are all up. Westlake High School has one of the highest National Merit Scholarship Finalists per capita rankings of public high schools in the nation and has consistently been ranked among the top 100 high schools in the country. Westlake High is also a perennial challenger, along with much larger schools with much better facilities, for the coveted Lone Star Cup that annually recognizes excellence in all University Interscholastic League events and activities including athletics, band, orchestra, debate and many more.
The Eanes school district has been rated Exemplary by the Texas Education Agency for the management of its finances for the past 15 years, has earned one of the highest bond ratings of any school district in Texas and has the lowest tax rate of all school districts in Central Texas.
By all metrics, Eanes ISD is one of the top-rated school districts in the country.
So why vote to approve school bonds in these uncertain economic times?
Dr. Wellman and her staff have developed a plan to bring our educational and extra-curricular facilities up to par with other premiere school districts across the state of Texas and meet the needs of Eanes students for years to come. This plan will help move EISD towards the district’s world-class vision and help to improve the education of each student so that they can reach their full potential. And because new energy efficient permanent classrooms would replace old high operating cost temporary classrooms, district maintenance and operating costs would be only modestly impacted.
Now is the ideal time to move forward with plans to meet the facility needs of the students of Eanes ISD for decades. Interest rates and construction costs are at historically low levels, and delays until “the economy improves” will undoubtedly result in increased costs for taxpayers and scaled back facilities which will limit the educational efficacy for all students.
If all three proposals were to be approved by voters, the Eanes tax rate would rise from $1.20 to $1.26 per $100 of property value – still well below tax rates in all other suburban Austin school districts. An additional investment of only about $40 per month for the average homeowner would pay big dividends for all stakeholders of the district.
Present and future students of EISD deserve the best education and facilities possible. And wise property owners in EISD understand that a vibrant community, that supports public education unconditionally and makes investments to build and maintain its facilities, will always have property values that exceed those of communities that don’t.
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Mr. Durkee makes excellent points throughout his letter.
Excellence comes at a price and it clearly has the support of the EISD community.
Mr. Durkee,
Speaking of the “old high operating cost temporary buildings” you personally recommended those substandard facilities for The Learning Center (TLC) students. I attended that board meeting.
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/this_is_westlake_high.htm
The Eanes ISD board meeting minutes confirm your assurance that “all ADA compliance issues would be taken care of” in the 2006 bond. They weren’t.
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/ada_lawsuit.htm
Instead, you voted to “change the scope” of that 2006 bond to include wish list items like more artificial turf and lighting as well as batting cages. Can we expect more of the same if these bonds pass?
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/turf.htm
And finally, Mr. Durkee, what have you done to insure that citizens who speak during public forums are not subject to “anonymous” email attacks?
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/not_the_first_time_or_even_the_second____.htm
I will be willing to vote YES to a bond proposal when we have an independent oversight committee and a particular aim I subscribe to (like academic / moral quality across-the-board and fiscal responsibility).
I’m really not impressed by Merit Scholarships which can now be bought with tutoring for many above-average, disciiplined students. These are qualities inculcated and funded at home … not at school. Not an district accomplishment when tutoring to meet the test is privately funded.
Experience says I cannot current administration with funding decisions. Yes, Eanes includes families which are very committed to education. That DOES NOT TRANSLATE necessarily to an administration competent to provide it.
I hope …. but continue to wonder… if this administration can open its books and its decision-making to competent and relevant stakeholders … so we can move forward.
Then, the quest for excellence can proceed.
Until then … I will vote ABSOLUTELY NO across the board. I’d like to approve a bond package to update current school facilities to responsible operating conditions … and will await a bond package which presents this option with trustworthy fiscal management.
We can maybe build on that.
I continue to review various sources of information about the bonds, including these blogs and cited websites.
The site that consistently seems to provide factual information without emotional embellishments is “www.supporteanes.com”
At any rate, the variety of input helps shape opinions and will hopefully get people out to the polls.
Yes- websites have lots of accurate information. http://www.eanesbond.org has plenty of information that is accurate, cl;ear, concise and from the district.
Yes, check out the ‘fact’ checker eanesbond.org to see how out of touch with reality these people really are. It tells you that the the EANES tax burden is double or triple the amount of other local districts. They fail to mention that the tax burden is directly proportional to 640k average home value in the district. If we all lived in homes valued near the 220k average home value of the Austin metro area, they would actually be paying LESS taxes than those living in other school districts. Stop insulting our intelligence and wasting everyone’s time by these smoke and mirror tactics. It is more than evident that eanesbond.org is just a political hack job that is more intent on stonewalling progress and obfuscating issues rather than focusing on the academic excellence of EANES.
I think the eanesbond.org people have it right. We do pay a tremendously higher average property tax bill in this district. I think it is the District that is being misleading.
The fact of the matter is Eanes residents spend more in school property taxes than most district’s in the entire state. For the Board to assert that our taxes are low is laughable.
Yes but we don’t live in modest 220k homes. The majority of residents pay at a minimum 8k simply to EISD which is the majority of their tax bill. My tax bill is 18,000 a year with 12,000 going to EISD. So, you can say we have a low percentage but due to the high values of property within the District we pay more than most people in other Districts.
The way it has been sun is that it is only a little bit. Well, in this economy a little bit counts for a lot and goes a long way.
It is undeniable that our tax rates are the lowest in the area. Its like complaining you pay too much in auto insurance because you drive a ferrari. If you don’t like how much you are paying in taxes move to a smaller house or a less affluent neighborhood. If you lived in the same size house as you do now in a similar neighborhood but in a different district you would still be paying MORE in taxes, even if the bond passes. This should not be weighing your personal lifestyle choices against the needs of the district. You are perfectly capable of reducing the amount of taxes you pay without putting your short term problems ahead of the long term needs of the district.
Of course your tax bill is higher than if you lived in a $220k home. That’s math my fifth grader can figure out. Presumably you knew this fact when you purchased your over a million dollar home for which you pay $18,000 a year in taxes. If you did not understand this, shame on you. If you did, then you are trying to make a false accusation that the district is lying about the tax rate. Which is it?
Apparently the Eanes ISD superintendent Nola Wellman did not want to pay high property taxes either:
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/letter_to_nola_wellman.htm
It works both ways. If home values are high, you don’t have to charge a high percentage. That’s why our percentage is low and why the District saying it is low means they are making a bogus argument. Another reason our rate is low is because 70% of the people in this district don’t have kids in school. So that means 70% of the residents pay for 30% of the families education.
EISD is fortunate to be in a high property value area. And before you act like that the schools drive the high property value, as I pointed out most people in this District don’t have kids in the schools. They live in Eanes because it’s a beautiful area of Austin, close to the city and easy to navigate North and South.
I chose to live in a nice home in a nice neighborhood but am tired of the District selling the idea that we have low taxes. We have a lower rate due to the larger home values our District residents have- simple as that. The rate may be low but it produces a larger sum than other Districts produce.
Either way, just because people have the money in the bank does not necessarily make it ok to assume that they should fund all of this at this time. I could add on to my house right now but because of the economy have chosen to wait and see what happens. I donate generously to my school and to EEF. I pay higher taxes and don’t mind but at a certain point you begin to feel as if the Board believes there is no limit. There are limits and they need to realize that many with way more funds than most are still not buying 150 million in this economy.
Hope everyone votes to give strong guidance to the current administration and Board.
Until the current budget is scrubbed for spendings cuts asking for more money via a bond package is not good idea
Vote No
Why the big rush? Why the overly broad and general descriptions in trying to “sell” this to voters? Why is my inbox allowed to be inundated with the “Vote Yes” propoganda? Why the venomous opposition to anyone asking questions?
These are the questions that send up a big red flag for me and as a result, are why I plan to vote NO to all 3.
[...] Durkee and I think he’s got it right when it comes to the bonds. Please take a second to read the attached opinion piece he recently wrote for the Westlake Picayune. This will clear up most concerns you may have. I hope you will join me in voting FOR each of the [...]
If the Bonds can pass now then it won’t matter what the Board make up is next May when Durkee and Strickland step down. The “Yes Men” may not be there anymore.
Mr. Durkee makes some good key points in his letter.
For me it boils down to how much investment I am willing to make to continue the excellence in Eanes. At about $1 per day, the risk is in not supporting Dr. Wellman and the school board.
I voted FOR all bond proposals today. Please do the same and continue the excellence in EISD.