From:
S Bushart
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006
To: sbushart@austin.rr.com
Subject: Eanes ISD Community Update #19
June 2, 2006
Dear Eanes Friends,
Today I've chosen to provide a follow-up to
Eanes ISD Community Update #17 attached below.
On April 9, 2006 I sent a letter to
Superintendent Nola Wellman expressing my concerns about the public documents
exempted from disclosure described below, and asked to meet with her informally
to seek clarification and resolution of this problem. She didn't respond
........ so ,still seeking answers and hoping for corrective action I formalized
my inquiry by filing a public complaint as directed in Eanes Board Policy GF
LOCAL. I clearly listed the documentation withheld by Eanes ISD. The documents
withheld related to the transactions described below. All donations were dated
within the timeframe of my request; July 1, 2004 - July 1, 2005.*
The complaint worked its way through Level
I, Level II and on May 31, 2006 the Eanes Board of Trustees considered the
complaint at Level III. Their decision was unanimous.......no evidence of
wrong doing !!!
Money, products and services were donated
by the Chaps Club, checks were cashed by Eanes ISD and yet our district
administrators have asserted their lack of any record relating to these
transactions is not problematic.
Questions for consideration:
- Should taxpayers be satisfied with this apparent lack of fiscal accounting?
- If you donated $53,000.00,
wouldn't you want that donation recorded by the recipient and the money easily
accounted for?
- Who in our school district is responsible
for the integrity of our district's finances?
I encourage our district administrators and
board of trustees, to seriously reconsider all
concerns presented relating to fiscal accountability. Taxpayers vote, and the
Eanes taxpayers spoke volumes when they voted "NO" on a recent bond proposal.
Wishing all the best for our students, our
parents, our teachers and our taxpayers,
Susan Bushart
ATTACHMENT:
April 18, 2006
Dear Eanes Friends,
On July 15, 2005 I submitted an open records
request to the Eanes Independent School District (attached)*. The district
provided 40 pages of documents responsive to my request.
Recently I had the opportunity to access
financial documents held and provided by the Westlake Chap Club. I viewed
documents relating to financial contributions from the Westlake Chap Club to the
Eanes Independent School District. These items were responsive to my July 15,
2005 request to Eanes ISD, but for whatever reason were not included in the 40
pages released by the district on August 1, 2005.
Documents that I reviewed held
by the Westlake Chap Club, Inc. on March 31, 2006 and April 3, 2006 that were
responsive to this request and not provided by Eanes ISD are:
- letter to Nola Wellman dated 9/21/04 with
check#1839 payable to EISD for the amount $14,000. This
check was deposited in the WHS Activity Account and recommended for use by Mr.
Poole for football videos.
- documents held by EISD Athletic Director
Derek Long reflecting requests to Westlake Chap Club Inc. for purchase of audio
visual and/or computer equipment at the cost of $27,715.04.
(Paid for with check #2025 on 6/9/05)
- documents held by EISD Athletic Director
Derek Long reflecting requests to Westlake Chap Club Inc. for purchase of laptop
computer to administer and maintain athletic website, assist in athletic
director office for administrative uses for events, meets etc. (Paid for
with check #1845 on 9/24/04)
- documents reflecting donation of
$4,517.14
from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD for Tech Theater (Paid for with check #1874
on 11/7/04)
- documents reflecting donation of
$2,240.40
from Westlake Chap Club Inc. and received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on
8/30/04 (Paid for with check #1810 dated 8/25/04)
- documents reflecting donation of
$53,000.00
from Westlake Chap Club Inc. and received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on
5/23//05 (Paid for with check #2011 dated 5/15/05) for
coaches stipends
- documents
reflecting donation of $18,850.00
from Westlake Chap Club Inc. and received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on
5/23/05 (Paid for with check #2012 dated 5/15/05)
- documents reflecting donation of Sony
video equipment from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD costing
$8,750.00
(Paid for with check #1999 dated 4/27/05)
- letter to Nola Wellman dated 9/24/04 with
a donation from Westlake Chap Club Inc. of $1,652.00
recommending that the funds be used by the volleyball program
- documents reflecting donation of
Binswanger Glass products and/or services from Westlake Chap Club Inc. valued at
$3,924.13 (Paid for with check #2027 dated
6/9/05)
- letter to Nola Wellman dated 8/20/04 with
Westlake Chap Club Inc. donation of $$1,075.00
and recommendation that the funds be used for the athletic program (Paid for
with check #1087 dated 8/16/04) This check was received by
EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on 8/30/04.
- letter to Nola Wellman dated 8/26/04 with
Westlake Chap Club Inc. donation of $2,240.50
recommending that the money be used by the Westlake High School football team.
- documents reflecting direct payment of
$1,500.00 from
Westlake Chap Club Inc. to
EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen (Paid for with check #2008 dated 5/10/05)
- documents reflection direct payment of
$1,500.00
from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen (Paid for with
check #1842 dated 9/24/04)
Questions for consideration:
- Why didn't Eanes ISD provide all
documents responsive to this request?
- How can our community access
accountability for the district' failure to comply with Texas Government Code
Chapter 552 Texas Public Information Act?
- Why is the Westlake Chap Club
providing monetary compensation with checks written directly to Eanes ISD
employees? Is this appropriate or legal? I've posed these questions to Eanes
ISD administration but they haven't responded. **
- How does our district monitor the
financial activities of the Westlake Chap Club as they directly relate to our
public facilities and employees?
- Who is legally responsible for the
decisions made regarding requests, receipt, and/or expenditures of these
funds...the athletic director's assistant,principal, superintendent, board of
trustees..?
I continue to encourage both the Westlake
Chap Club and the Eanes Independent School District to publicly post on their
websites the details of all financial transactions providing easy
access to this information for our taxpayers.
Wishing all the best for our students, our
parents, our teachers and our taxpayers,
Susan Bushart
EANES ISD CONTACT INFORMATION:
Dale Whitaker, Director of Communications:
dwhitake@eanes.k12.tx.us phone: (512) 732-9002
Nola Wellman, Superintendent:
nwellman@eanes.k12.tx.us phone: (512) 732-9001 fax: (512) 732-9005
Board of Trustees:
trustees@eanes.k12.tx.us
* (see attachment) TPIA Chap
Club
** ( see attachment) direct pay
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