Information is currency for democracy.
- Thomas Jefferson
A day without sunshine is like, you know,
night. -
Steve Martin
Education is unique among consumer products;
when it fails to work as advertised, it's the customer that gets labeled as
defective. - Kevin
Killion
Please
download for best results in using
this website.
Courage is the most important of all
the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other
virtues consistently. You can't be consistently kind or fair or
humane or generous, not without courage, because if you don't have
it, sooner or later you will stop and say, "The threat is too much.
The difficulty is ...too high. The challenge is too great. ~ Maya
Angelou
THIS IS WESTLAKE HIGH
"QUICK AND DIRTY"
UPDATE: MAY 18, 2010
"It was a quick and dirty
idea at the time and we needed something quick and dirty, we tore
down the building, the house it was in." ~ Ellen Balthazar,
Eanes ISD Board Member
Why is Eanes ISD Board Member Ellen
Balthazar, the director of
Any Baby Can an agency that
exists to serve children
with special needs, so
willing, even eager, to
ignore the needs of district
children with special needs
and treat them as second
class citizens? Yes, the board needed
something "quick and
dirty" for TLC because
they were busy spending the
bond money to build (as
Ellen Balthazar supported) a
wonderful, permanent
structure where TLC once
stood ... for athletics. Balthazar
continues to
advocate for bigger and
better athletic facilities
while blatantly
marginalizing the needs of
students with
special needs including those who attend TLC.
Ms. Balthazar, would you
want your child to spend
his/her learning day in a
substandard structure with
broken air conditioning, a
leaking roof, and bad
floors? Here's
another question for you
Ellen: How do you
sleep at night?
The original post,
written in May 2008 is
below. Two years
later, this is a
conversation from the May
2010 board meeting:
Clint Sayers (board member):
We built this TLC that there
5 years ago. The building
that is there now is 5 years
old.
Nola Wellman
(superintendent):
Yeah, but it's not five
years old. It was used when
we got it. so we got it at a
real reduced rate because it
was already been
refurbished.
Clint (board member): What
is wrong with it now?
Les Redden (Facilities
Director): AC is the biggest
issue over there and it's
because of the way it was
built back in those days, it
was built in 86.
Clint: Seems like you could
do an AC ...
Les: The way that they got
that thing put together,
it's not easy to do. It's
not feasible to do. You
could go in there and tear
the whole thing off, cut
holes in the roof that leaks
already, then put rooftop
package in or something like
that, but there's no closet
space, there's ... the walls
are thin between the walls
..
Nola: Sound ... leakage ...
Les: Sound is a big issue
over there ... and the
floors are in bad shape.
Clint: So it just wasn't a
good building to begin with
...
Les: It wasn't a good
building to start with ...
Nola: It wasn't great,
remember we were in a fire
<code issue ...>
Ellen Balthazar (board
member): It was a quick and
dirty idea at the time and
we needed something quick
and dirty, we tore down the
building, the house it was
in.
Clint: I never recall it
being quick and dirty. I
don't recall being told (to
us) that it was used at the
time.
(for
"at-risk"
students
who need
a
different
learning
environment)
Spring 2008 -
The
Learning
Center
(TLC)
was once
located
in a
nearby
stone
house.
Then,
during
summer
2003, the fire
marshal
deemed
it
unsafe.
Time
marched
on and
when Eanes
ISD was
notified
of a
final
deadline
for
repairs,
instead
of
moving
forward
on the
required
safety
repairs for
TLC, one board member
(Robert Durkee) suggested
that we
"just
put 'em
in a
portable."
During
this
summer 2004
board
meeting
attended and recorded
by KeepEanesInformed,
Nola
Wellman
explained
that
the
little
rock
house
provided
a more
"home-like"
environment,
an
essential
aspect
needed
by the
TLC
students
to
engage
and
succeed.
Another
board
member (Ellen Balthazar)
reminded
the
board
that it
may be
"wise" to
reserve
the rock
house
area for
future
athletic
program
improvements and move
the TLC
somewhere
else. And so they did.
And
that's
how this
mobile
home
became
Westlake
High.
Not
Westlake
High
Proper.
Not The
Westlake
High
School
that
serves
all
of the
children.
Just the
at-risk
children.
Who
don't
play
football.
Who
don't
have a
board
member
to speak
up for
their
needs.
And not just any portable.
An old nasty standard
portable with bad floors,
defective AC, and a crummy
roof. Because the
district had more pressing
needs, according to the
board and superintendent ...
like yet another brand-new
top-notch permanent building
for ATHLETICS.
Currently,
the rock
house that once housed the
TLC program
(literally
a
stone's
throw
away) is
being
completely
rebuilt
as a top
notch
athletic
facility
with
coaching
offices,
lockers,
showers,
the best
of the
best
(photo
below.)
In 2006,
the Eanes
ISD
leadership
tried to
pass a
bond for
a
covered
indoor
football
field
(natatorium)
so that
the
football
players
wouldn't
get hot
during
summer
heat? And the
TLC
(at-risk)
students?
This
year,
the Eanes
ISD
board
heard
from Les Reddin, the Eanes
ISD
facilities
manager
who
explained
that the
air
conditioning
in the
arguably
substandard
TLC
facilities
is
failing
(doesn't
cool
properly
in
spring
and
summer).
How's
that for
some
TLC?
THIS
IS
WESTLAKE
HIGH.
Westlake
High School - Two high
school athletic PRACTICE
fields - current
installation of millions
of dollars in artificial
turf and lights.
And that doesn't include
the cost of replacing
the
WHS stadium artificial turf
also currently being replaced.
Click here to learn more.
Westlake
High School
tennis/softball complex
- The former location of
The Learning Center
(TLC) is currently under
construction
as a yet
another top
notch athletic facility
with coaching offices,
lockers, showers, the
best of the best.
GOT
SCRAPS?
Don't
bother
searching
for the
The
Learning
Center
(TLC) on
the
Westlake
High
School
website
...
19+
Program
-
Students
ages
18-21
who
are
graduating
under
an
Individual
Education
Plan
attend
the
19+
program
to
address required educational goals
for
transition
to
adulthood.
GOT CIVIL RIGHTS?
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
104.34 Educational setting.
(c) Comparable facilities. If a
recipient (of federal funding), in compliance with
paragraph (a) of this section, operates a facility that
is identifiable as being for handicapped persons, the
recipient shall ensure that the
facility and the services and
activities provided therein are comparable to the other
facilities, services, and activities of the recipient.
October 12, 2007 -
Click here
to review what happens when the federal government responds to an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance complaint.
Prior
ADA
complaint
in 2004
was
closed
by OCR
in early
2007.
