Westlake Academy (sex offenders, public school, median income)

[loves2read]

the brohaha in the paper should make anyone who wants their child in Westlake to take a second look...
firing the second head of school and after such a short time in office really smacks of lack of professionalism on part of the mayor and city council and the fact that neither party is releasing any info about the charges for why it is necessary to get rid of him now vs professional probation and later assessment

ALL of that information is PUBLIC INFORMATION--it is a PUBLIC school--part of MY taxes go to fund that school just as the Westlake residents' taxes do...the mayor and city council are really acting in a very high-handed manner. That attitude is not going to allow a great school to develop...
they wax and wane and apparently have made two bad decisions back to back--
the city needs to wake up and so do the parents of students in that school...I wonder how they handle school board elections in case like this when there is no separate election -- just for regular terms of office

I think both parties might have something to hide and it would certainly seem that anyone who applies for the head of school vacancy better think twice about the vascillating nature of the school board...

[scarmig]

There are no politics like school politics.

For some reason I have seen over and over again that school officials have no concept of being open and honest. Everything must be a secret, no one is to question them. It really drives me up the wall how petty these people in such important and influential positions can be.

[loves2read]

these people are not "school" officials like most in admin at public ISDs---they were elected to city council and when Westlake started the Academy they automatically became the board members by default...
frankly they are politicians first and then school board members---which is the problem I think

[5stones]

couldn't agree more.
The mayor being the superintendent and the city manager being the school board president seems a bit conflict of interest to me.
Either way this whole situation has been mismanaged and I do feel bad for the parents who feel left out of the loop so to speak.

[hypocore]

Nothing surprising there to me. haha

Westlake is a tiny town with great wealth. There are only about 700 residents according to it's website and the median income is easily 6 figures.
When you put tiny and wealthy together you will always get everything intertwined amongst select people. That never seems to work well......not surprising at all to me.

[loves2read]

it is not surprising---but TEA should be involved before this is allowed to continue--I don't care what the original charter of the school has established for who should be the controlling body but it seems pretty obvious from just the short time the school has been operational that it is not going to work out for the best interests of the STUDENTS---
it is not so much a conflict of interest is it is the blind leading the blind...
someone in that organization needs to understand how to run a school--which is not like running a town or even a business...
the only people who DO know about education are the people being FIRED--
and they are being fired by the same people who were enthralled by them less than 18 months ago...
if this is how Westlake itself is run then there are other problems as well...
the PEOPLE of the town whether they have children in that school are owned an explanation through the OPEN MEETING laws--and the officials seem bound and determined to keep every thing under wraps...
it makes me infer that something illegal happened that they don't want brought to light because of how damaging it would be...

[loves2read]

just an update--
the FTW paper today featured an editorial that basically accuses the Westlake mayor who is head of the school board of bullying a Westlake parent who is also the CEO of the Academy for sending email criticizing the board's actions againt the school head last month...

At Westlake Academy, bullies run the school | Editorials | Star-Telegram (http://www.star-telegram.com/225/story/1583047.html - broken link)

editorial said that the Mayor crossed the line by threatening the parent's right to free speech (an implying retaliation on the student as well) even if the parent might have misused an email list given to him/her by the Westlake Academy because of his role there

aparently the parent's comments might be construed to be personal opinion and thus not legitimate board business I guess--although I don't know why a board member would not have the right to criticize AS a board member the actions/policies/decisions of the Board--they are not sacrosanct--
no personal info was given out that would be considered protected information

but remember that Westlake has not turned over the information discussed about why the head of school and his wife needed to be terminated ASAP--which would be available under the Open Meetings/Public Information rules...when parents at the hearing made vocal requests to know what was behind the termination...

the Mayor seems to be getting very strident over this continuing controversy with her back to the wall mentality
there must be something there that is not kosher or why be so defensive...
bet the next person to go will be the CEO who sent the email....

[5stones]

I saw that editorial as well.

bet the next person to go will be the CEO who sent the email....

Well...under the "rules of conduct" it seems the school can expell the child of the disguntled parent (and school board member) from the school.

So, if that is true then simply by sending out a retallitation e-mail as the the Mayor/school board president Laura Wheat did then her child (who attends the academy) should aslo be expelled.

To threaten to expell a child because a parent voiced a criticization of the school board and it's decisions seem WAYYYY out of line to me.
Parents aren't allowed to voice oposition to school board decisions?

Isn't being able to voice an opionion about elected officals a basic right of free speech? Isn't that what this country so great?

I would love to hear from the few posters here who have kids attending the Academey. I know if I had a child there I would be getting pretty upset at this point.

[loves2read]

this is a charter school--independant from public ISD-- but it gets funding from the state--
I don't know ONE student whose parent's comments could get him expelled from a public school...
now the student's comments/actions--that is different story
I do know some parents who were banned from being on school property during athletic events because of their behavior toward refs--
and probably law of the land being what it is--sex offenders should not be on school property...

but really
what public school has the power to expel a student because of a parent's actions--
I can't believe the charter was accepted with that type of autocratic language in it--
guess the state did not really read it before approving it--since everyone was so caught up in the atmosphere of Westlake wanting a "charter" school....

and legally I think that is a violation of the student's rights to due process
although charters because they are voluntary schools do have more strength in keeping their stringent rules enforced

[hypocore]

You do realize that piece is an editorial opinion piece and not actual proven facts don't you?

Even if you can trust this piece to be true, nowhere does it say that children will be expelled if their parent opposes the school board.
What it said was any acts that are forbidden (yet done) "will initially result in counseling and if continued may result in expulsion from Westlake Academy,". None of the things listed include parents opposing the school board.

The part that says that is an "explicit threat" is something the opinion writer concluded on their own. Unless they can provide the actual bylaws or school policy, you simply can't believe an opinion piece without prejudice.

Then again, unless you have a child attending there or you actually live in Westlake, why care all that much in general?