Eanes Parents Unite: Recent Episodes
Aaron Silva
We’re trying to start a productive conversation about the current state of Eanes Independent School District. Our hope is to find common ground as parents and leaders by discussing the history of EISD, the merits of leadership decisions happening right now, and the change in the district’s stated mission that could hold sway over its future. This conversation is vital because, like all parents, we want our children to grow as individuals, learn in a culture of excellence, and remain safe while doing it. EISD has delivered on all of these promises in the past, and now we must work hard to preserve it for our kids. No matter your stance on the issues, please join the conversation and believe in Eanes!
WARNING: This episode contains passages read from actual EISD library books. Parental discretion is advised.
The debate about pornography In School Library Books may be national but the controversy here is unique only to Eanes. Aaron explores the 3-way tug of war between trustees’ inaction; parents pro-porn and parents anti-porn and frames a struggle that puts innocent students and teachers in the middle. Will our board of trustees find the will to lead? Or will they wait for a Hail Mary pass from Texas legislators? Hear actual readings from books available to your kids without parental knowledge and learn what books are NOT in the library, but should be.
CONNECT:
Website: https://eanesparentsunite.com
Following the Safety and Security Town Hall meeting hosted for parents by EISD in September, Aaron interviews Assistant Superintendents Jeremy Trimble and Molly May as they strengthen physical deterrents and monitor the mental health of our students - but some parents at the meeting feel it may not be enough in the aftermath of the Uvalde tragedy. Hear about the hard work our leaders are performing and challenges they face to prevent the worst of outcomes. Aaron also meets with a parent attending the town hall who opines with his readiness assessment of the district safety and security plans that all parents should know about.
CONNECT:
Website: https://eaneskids.com/
Join Aaron as he introduces Varsity Football Head Coach Tony Salazar in his first year at the helm following three straight Texas state championships. Coach Salazar discusses how our football program and culture reinforces accountability, responsibility and leadership in Eanes' students ultimately shaping them to be outstanding leaders after they graduate high school. Part two of this episode introduces a new recurring segment from influential parent Jennifer Stevens in a heart-felt and sincere appeal to parents in our district to build bridges and unite for the sake of our children.
Join Aaron as he interviews Superintendent Dr. Jeff Arnett and Assistant Superintendent of Operations Jeremy Trimble about the safety status of our children in the wake of the Uvalde tragedy. Dr. Arnett also details his community engagement and communication plans known as "CAFE" - Conversations About Furthering Excellence - that will openly discuss with all parents in a town hall format: Safety & Security, Library Books, DEI and District Finances.
Join the Eanes Parents Unite Podcast as we take the show on the road. Setting up outside of EISD Headquarters in advance of a Board of Trustees meeting, Aaron Silva has impromptu sit downs with various parents who wish to share what is on their mind about Eanes, its teachers, students and leadership.
For nearly the entirety of this podcast season we have been focusing on what EISD administrators, leaders and parents believe is best for their kiddos - what WE THINK, THEY NEED. Now, hear a perspective from one of the brightest and most accomplished students in our entire school district - the Senior Class President of Westlake High School, Mr. Mark Sayegh. Mr. Sayegh has an incredible sense of what the student body of WLHS wants and needs and you'll be surprised to hear how little students and their collective opinions are actually included in the initiatives and programs contemplated by EISD leadership and implemented at WLHS. Mark weighs in on all of our seaon topics including the Mission Statement, Communication, Library Books, DEI, racism, student leadership and traditions of Eanes.
Eanes ISD Board of Trustee Public Square Candidate Forum sponsored by Eanes Parents Unite Podcast held on April 20, 2022 at 7:00PM with challenging candidates Jim Withers, Jay Lamy, David Barrutia at Riverbend Church in Westlake, Texas. Event moderated by Aaron Silva.
Not present: Incumbent candidates Ellen Balthazar (ill) and Heather Sheffield (declined).
Meet Jay Lamy a challenger to incumbent Ellen Balthazar for place #7 on the EISD Board of Trustees. Mr. Lamy is a native Texan and has grown up in Westlake. His children attend EISD and he is a successful local businessman who believes he can bring a positive energy and level of fiscal responsibility and creativity to the board that it needs to solve the teacher attrition problem and over-dependence on charitable fundraising. His campaign slogan "Come together right now!" communicates his passion for re-uniting the community after a few tough years and getting back to focusing on our kids' education and keeping EISD excellent. Note: Each candidate interviewed has full editorial control over the content of each episode and final approval before publishing.
Listen to challenger Jim Withers discuss why he believes that his experience, expertise and creativity will unite the community over what we have in common rather than dwelling on our differences. Mr. Withers challenges incumbent Heather Sheffield for place #6. Jim believes he is a better choice in this election because he will remain hyper-focused on EISD issues for our kids rather dividing his time with the educational matters facing rural schools that don't impact EISD as his opponent currently does over the last few years. Note: Mrs. Sheffield has declined to provide an open interview for the Eanes Parents Unite podcast. Each candidate interviewed has full editorial control over the content of each episode and final approval before publishing.
Meet David Barrutia as he is challenging incumbent Ellen Balthazar and challenger Jay Lamy for EISD Board of Trustee place #7. Mr. Barrutia is a current substitute teacher at EISD and a leader on the Envision Eanes sub-committee. David has a strong international and domestic background in education. A native of Texas, he wants to bring the community back together by adding a common sense and consensus building style to the EISD Board of Directors if elected by voters. This interview is very detailed and gets into all of the main issues facing voters including budget, EISD, library books and communication between administration and parents. Note: Each candidate interviewed has full editorial control over the content of each episode and final approval before publishing.
Hear now from Mrs. Ellen Balthazar an incumbent member of the EISD Board of Trustees defending her place #7 against Jay Lamy and David Barrutia. Mrs. Balthazar has served EISD for 21 years and seeks re-election to continue many of the policies that were previously implemented under her watch that she believes will stem teacher attrition, improve the budget situation and bring clarity to issues facing voters such as DEI policies and Library Books. This candid interview with Mrs. Balthazar is a great education for parents on the inner workings of the EISD board leadership. Note: Each candidate interviewed has full editorial control over the content of each episode and final approval before publishing.
One of the hottest topics affecting many school districts across the country is a sweeping trend of implementing DEI into the staff development and training rigor for teachers that, in turn, incorporate these concepts into teaching materials and program development. While many parents support the social and moral values that DEI represents, other parents believe such program content is an infringement on their parental rights and that such discussions should be reserved to them. Joining us in this episode is the co-founder and leader of the Eanes for Equity parental group here in Westlake, Darshana Kalikstein. Darshana joins Aaron Silva for a candid and thoughtful discussion on why E4E parents support these initiatives.
We sit down with our newest superintendent to get to know him better personally and understand the challenges that lay ahead for our schools, teachers and students. Leaving no subject off limits, Dr. Arnett opens up and candidly discusses with Aaron Silva some of the hottest topics on many parents' minds including: Past mistakes (and learnings); Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) training / CRT; inappropriate school library books; parental rights; the budget deficit and future financial issues; staff retention and attrition; leadership development and the vision he has to bring us all together again for the benefit of our children. If you have never met Dr. Arnett and hear him speak publicly on these matters this episode is a must listen.
To learn more about the purpose of Eanes Kids First and support our cause: http://eaneskids.com/
Getting involved as a parent and Influencing the educational and development outcomes of your child is the focus of this three part series which will cover hot topic issues including parental rights, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) training and how school library books may be inappropriately exposing elementary and middle school children to sexually explicit material.
In this second episode, meet Jackie Besinger, the local chapter president of Moms For Liberty. Recently, Jackie’s chapter released an eye-popping list of more than 333 books that they individually researched one-by-one that contain sexually explicit adult-level content which can be found in nearly every EISD library. Parents are pushing for these books to be purged from all elementary and middle school libraries and left to the option of parents to read with their children when they feel their child has reached the proper level of sexual maturity and sophistication- not when the district believes it the right time. Jackie is a sophisticated and well-studied parent on these issues with a masters degree in business administration.
Getting involved as a parent and Influencing the educational and development outcomes of your child is the focus of this three part series which will cover hot topic issues including parental rights, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) training and how school library books may be inappropriately exposing elementary and middle school children to sexually explicit materials.
In this first episode we interview Jennifer Stevens the founder of Eanes Kids First [www.EanesKidsFirst.com] and a long-time local entrepreneur and business owner that has been involved in countless charitable organizations for years in our community. Hear her story on how she started EKF and their current focus on parental rights; holding EISD leadership accountable to conducting business in an open and transparent way while authentically engaging parents in their decision making processes. Jen’s group is also acutely interested in making sure we close our $4M fiscal deficit. Jen’s passion for putting our children and teachers first comes through powerfully in this episode as she slides through many topics and initiatives that parents may want to get behind.
Eanes Parents Unite has been a very successful and engaging podcast in its first season - everyone is talking about it! As we approach the midpoint in our open and honest discussions a preview for our listeners of what’s to come in March and April.
MARCH:
How Parents Can Get Involved (3 Episodes) - featuring Jennifer Stevens, Jackie Besinger and Darshana Kalikstein on topics about parental rights, DEI, library books, budget deficit and open communication.
Leadership - A candid issues discussion with Dr. Jeff Arnett, EISD Superintendent
Board Meeting Open Mic Night - Eanes Parents Unite Podcast will take the mic remote and be onsite at the March 29th board meeting to hear about what’s on parents minds.
APRIL:
Board of Trustees Election Coverage (weekly releases)
With two seats being defended by Ellen Balthazar (place 7) and Heather Sheffield (place 6) challengers Jay Lamy, Jim Withers and David Barrutia hope to add their experience to the EISD board. All incumbent and challenging candidates have been invited to appear on our podcast and their one-on-one sessions will begin airing weekly in early April up to the start of early voting on April 20th.
The longstanding mission statement for Eanes was focused on one word above all else…EXCELLENCE! The results have spoken for themselves - a high achieving school district that consistently produces sharp academic minds, world-class athletes, and bold innovators. Why then, we ask on today’s episode, has the school board decided to water down the mission statement from a striving message of excellence to an updated message of mediocrity and ambiguity? We explore how these lower standards can be measured - if at all. This episode is about analyzing what a mission statement is supposed to do and asking how this new direction might affect the coursework, rigor, and trajectory of our kids' futures.
To learn more about the purpose of Eanes Kids First and support our cause: http://eaneskids.com/
Now that we’ve discussed the history and legacy of Eanes, let’s step fully into the present day. There is no doubt that we’re proud of our schools, teachers and students, but certain rumors have circulated for more than 30 years about Eanes that paint a misleading (and sometimes flat-out dishonest) portrait of our special community. Repeated enough over the years these myths become facts and result in needless division among parents. If we don’t work to dispel these rumors, we’ll never be able to come together as a district to solve the true issues that really matter the most. So let’s get down to it and talk about the 4 myths that we believe are eroding the spirit and unity of EISD.
To learn more about the purpose of Eanes Kids First and support our cause: http://eaneskids.com/
We’ve learned that there is so much to celebrate about the history of Eanes; its spirit of independence, the beyond tight-knit community of the schools, and how the district has always been the best steward of its 50 year heritage. This week we’ll touch on some of these points of pride, but we’ll also start to delve into the culture of division that has taken root in the modern era of Eanes. We’ll be joined again by our previous guests, all Westlake High School Alumni, to try and understand why Eanes seems to be losing its trademark community and kindness: from long-held traditions canceled for questionable reasons, to topics of education that can’t seem to find broad support by parents.
To learn more about the purpose of Eanes Kids First and support our cause: http://eaneskids.com/
The parents of our great community are divided across many issues. Part of the division exists because we have stopped talking to each other about what we have in common - our kids. The goal of this podcast is to unite our parents and get us talking again so we might get refocused on the bigger goals. To understand where we are - and get on the same page - understanding where we came from is informative. This episode starts with an interesting and factual explanation of EISD as recorded by historians and retold by actual alumni that were in the earliest graduating classes of Westlake High School. Learn where some of our earliest traditions started; how we got the 'skinny chicken' mascot and why Westlake Hills broke away from Austin ISD in the 1950s. For long-time residents and especially for those transplants - this history lesson will fill in a lot of gaps and get us talking about what we all have in common...our history.
To learn more about the purpose of Eanes Kids First and support our cause: http://eaneskids.com/
Join us this season for meaningful conversations about Eanes Independent School District. We'll be journeying back into the History of Eanes, discussing Hot-Button issues in the district, and interviewing policy experts with varying viewpoints to try and find common ground between parents and leaders. Help us start a productive conversation about EISD!
To learn more about the purpose of Eanes Kids First and support our cause: http://eaneskids.com/