Planning for Impact (Not Just Ideas)

A Community That Cares, A District at a Crossroads

Eanes ISD has long stood for academic excellence, strong community values, and proud traditions. Today, we stand at a crossroads—a moment that calls for thoughtful decisions about how we invest in our future while preserving what makes this district exceptional.

The Long Range Facilities Planning Committee (LRFPC) spent 18 months developing a bold and comprehensive vision for our facilities, and we are deeply grateful for their time, care, and commitment to our schools. As we consider the path ahead, we have an opportunity to build on that work by making sure future planning efforts are set up for success—with accurate enrollment data, collaboration across committees and the community, and integration across strategies. 

Even in the public sector, where profit is not a motive, understanding return on these long-term investments is still important—whether through operational cost savings, enrollment impact, or teacher retention. Let’s move forward—together, and with clarity and with purpose.

What Is the LRFPC Plan? An Ambitious Vision

On April 9, 2025, the Long Range Facilities Planning Committee (LRFPC) presented a plan reflecting 18 months of work. It proposes:

• Consolidating the district’s five remaining elementary schools into four.

• Converting Eanes Elementary into an early childhood center.

• Rebuilding Cedar Creek, Forest Trail, and Hill Country from the ground up.

• Modernizing remaining campuses, including enhancements like “rooftop gardens”.

• Leasing retail space to generate new revenue, with income projected no earlier than 2029.

• Funding the proposal through two future bond elections, as early as May 2026 and May 2028

The committee will vote on the proposal on May 5th—6pm at the District Operations Center. The Board of Trustees will vote on May 20.

How We Can Plan for What Eanes Needs Now and In the Future  

This moment presents an opportunity to reflect on how we plan—not just what we plan. By focusing on structure, alignment, and data-driven collaboration, we can build a foundation that leads to more informed decisions and stronger outcomes for the entire district.

A. Set the LRFP Committee for Success

• Focus on Mid-term Planning, Not Just the “Moonshot”: The board designed the committee to have an outlook of the next 10-50 years and encouraged ideation without constraints, asking the committee to imagine possibilities "as if anything were possible." 

Why it matters: That sounds inspiring—but by design, it means the committee’s work will be more like a dream than a plan. We have a gap in planning for the next 2-10 years, and without financial or operational realities as a guide, the result is a vision untethered from the district’s realities, needs and constraints.

• Collaborate with Key Stakeholders: Create dialogue and a mechanism for coordination between the LRFPC and the Board, Administration, Bond Oversight Committee, and even LRFP Sub-Committees.  Instead, each of these groups had little to no interaction.
  Why it matters: Facilities planning affects finances, staffing, operations, and programs. These can’t be planned in isolation—especially in a district already struggling to align its tax strategy and budget.

B. Create a Foundation of Data

• Accurate Enrollment Data: The committee needed accurate enrollment data.  Instead, they were given demographic data that showed flat enrollment in future years while the district’s enrollment has been in significant decline for years. 
  Why it matters: If enrollment continues to fall at the current pace, school closures will be necessary sooner than we can build larger schools to consolidate populations. When we put investment decisions in the context of enrollment, it’s clear our priorities are out of sync. We’ve invested in administrative facilities before student-facing campuses and are closing schools before building ones that can accommodate displaced students.

This issue is about to accelerate as 726 seniors are graduating in the 2024/25 school year, while incoming kindergarten classes are trending around 400 students with maximizing out-of-district-transfers (ODT). 

• Clear Budget From the Start: The committee needed early clarity on financial constraints to guide planning.
  Why it matters: Without a ceiling, plans inflate. Flashy ideas crowd out core needs, and public confidence erodes once the price tag surfaces.

• Community Input or Polling Data: Survey, polling, and demographic insight into what attracts families to Eanes and what voters would support is critical to help shape the plan. One committee member noted this in August 2024, yet no such data was provided.
  Why it matters: Voter appetite and community demand are critical. Both the 2010 and 2014 bond proposals failed in part because they didn’t reflect community priorities following depressed housing prices after the Great Financial Crisis in 2008.  Even worse, had they passed, it could have put the district in a worse financial position.  These are high-cost, high-stakes decisions—and getting them wrong isn’t just inefficient, it’s unsustainable.

• Consistent Method to Prioritize Projects: It’s common practice to rank proposals by expected ROI. Even in the public sector, where profit is not a motive, ROI is still important—whether through operational cost savings, enrollment impact, or teacher retention.
  Why it matters: In a $7 million deficit environment with teacher attrition at double the national average, every dollar should go where it delivers the most value.

C. Integrate Plans

• Integrated Financial Timeline: The proposed plan failed to account for how timing influences the success of interconnected efforts across enrollment, taxes, revenue, and expenses.
  Why it matters: Sequencing is everything. If timing is off, the district may unintentionally worsen the very problems it's trying to solve—accelerating enrollment loss, compounding budget problems, and/or triggering public backlash instead of support.  We need to see when impacts will take place. 

For example, even if all goes as planned, financial stabilization may not occur until 2030. Meanwhile, maintenance costs will rise before new revenue begins—and it’s unclear whether those costs will be offset by the new revenue. Time is not on our side. Enrollment is falling fast, and we need to reduce expenses and attract families now.

• Alignment Between Capital and Operational Realities: The district has struggled to reduce operating costs fast enough to avoid deeper deficits. Capital plans must be aligned accordingly.

  Why it matters: You can’t responsibly expand long-term capital obligations if you’re already cutting teachers, programs, or closing schools to stay solvent. For example, if the district had to pay $1-2 million as stipulated in the contract for the remaining amortization of the WACC, it would accelerate the need to close another school to offset expenses.

• Connected Tax Planning: Bonds and VATREs (tax rate elections) were developed independently, without an integrated look at overall tax impact.
  Why it matters: Taxpayers experience the total cost, not individual components. Planning tax changes in silos leads to sticker shock and undermines support.

D. De-Risk the Process

• Shorter Planning Cycles: This proposed plan took 18 months to develop—and didn’t account for the repurposing of the WACC announced the next day, Thursday April 10, 2025.
  Why it matters: When the facts on the ground change faster than the plan, the plan becomes obsolete before it’s even voted on. 

• A Fallback Plan If Voters Say No: The committee was not asked to prepare a Plan B. There are no defined next steps, phased options, or alternative timelines.
  Why it matters: Relying on one high-stakes outcome is too risky in an 18-month planning cycle. If the bond fails, we lose time, trust, and momentum.

• Infuse Authenticity and Trust: At least one committee member resigned, citing concerns that the plan was shaped from the top down and not open to fresh community input.
  Why it matters: When people sense that decisions are being made behind closed doors, it undermines trust—even among those who might support the outcomes. Public buy-in starts with a public process.

While the plan reflects significant effort, it was developed without financial parameters, current enrollment analysis, or community polling. That makes the plan vulnerable to both public resistance and practical misalignment with the district’s actual needs, including attracting and retaining families.

What I Will Bring to the Table: A Transparent, Flexible, and Fiscal Approach

To move forward, the district needs a different approach—one that is grounded in financial reality, driven by data, and centered on community priorities. Here’s what that looks like:

• Incorporate Data About Your Constituents: Understand what’s driving enrollment trends—like IB and language immersion options, STEM labs, athletics and arts spaces, and outdoor environments. Learn what competitive threats exist and what’s appealing about them to teachers and students. This includes charters, private schools, homeschooling, and neighboring districts.

• Start With What We Can Afford: Use real financial limits based on I&S capacity, tax rate modeling, and long-term maintenance costs.

• Design Tiered Plans: Design tiered projects to attract and retain students and teachers, while elevating the educational excellence Eanes is known for.

• Tier 1: Core facility needs with no tax increase

• Tier 2: Enhancements with broad community support

• Tier 3: Future-focused ideas dependent on growth or external funding

• Communicate Early and Often: Engage the community from the start. Provide transparency into trade-offs, financial models, and what’s at stake.

• Always Include a Fallback Plan: Offer voters a clear “do nothing” scenario and realistic alternatives. Planning without contingencies is a gamble the district can’t afford.

Let’s Build a Plan That’s Grounded, Transparent, and Ready for What’s Next

This moment calls for more than ambition. It calls for accountability, clarity, and leadership that starts with listening. The future of Eanes ISD will be shaped not by how many buildings we construct, but by whether we keep great teachers, rebuild trust with families, and govern with fiscal discipline and transparency.

I bring the experience, values, and commitment to lead that change—and to plan for impact, not just ideas.