Latest news with #EanesISD
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Eanes ISD releases new info after teacher arrest
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A former elementary music teacher at Eanes Independent School District who was arrested in February on charges of Possession of Child Pornography is now being charged with Sexual Performance by Child under 14, according to court records. In February the Texas Department of Public Safety executed a search warrant at Zachary Barnett's residence and seized a total of 13 digital devices according to the affidavit. Among those files— the affidavit said DPS found more than 8,000 pictures and videos of female students from Barnett's class. Former Eanes ISD music teacher arrested in connection with online crimes against children 'Violated our trust, exploited our students and naturally that is very upsetting,' said Eanes ISD Superintendent Jeff Arnett. The affidavit states that the 'images zoomed into the female students' skirts, their underwear, and their crotch area.' Parents KXAN spoke with tell us they worry about where the images could end up. 'They [DPS] have worked with national organizations to determine that none of our students images were uploaded and they have taken the additional step, making sure if there were any images of our children that were out there, those would be removed and we are trying to follow those processes with them as well,' Arnett said. In a letter to parents at Cedar Creek Elementary, Arnett addressed the latest information released to the district. 'Especially upsetting, is the new detail revealed in the Travis County warrant that Department of Public Safety (DPS) authorities identified and began surveillance of Barnett on Jan. 13, 2025, while knowing he was a teacher in our school. This was a full month before Eanes ISD police and administrators were made aware of his crimes. Had we been notified at that time, we would have immediately removed him from the classroom and avoided further exploitation of our students. Regrettably, we were not informed for several weeks as the investigation of him began, which is dismaying. While we cannot correct DPS's decision, we have told them of our extreme concerns regarding their delayed notification.' – Jeff Arnett, Eanes ISD Superintendent Some parents told KXAN they don't believe the district is doing enough to keep them informed or keep their kids safe. 'This has now spanned about eight weeks for our district, so we have been living this along with the parents,' Arnett said. 'We learned about it at the same time they did. We were disappointed in not being notified about the investigation until a month after DPS officials first learned about this activity.' KXAN reached out to DPS for comment about the investigation, as well as what they are doing to make sure images were not shared online, but we have not heard back at this time. We will update this if a statement is received. There are online resources that can help parents and victims dealing with similar cases. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offers a CyberTipline, as well as Take It Down, which helps remove nude, partially nude or sexually explicit photos and videos of underage people by assigning a unique digital fingerprint — called a hash value — to the images or videos. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Records show former Eanes ISD music teacher had nearly 9,000 videos/images of students
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A former elementary music teacher at Eanes Independent School District who was arrested in February on charges of Possession of Child Pornography is now being charged with Sexual Performance by Child under 14, according to court records. RELATED: Former Eanes ISD music teacher arrested in connection with online crimes against children Zachary Barnett was arrested and booked into the Williamson County Jail on Feb. 26 on three warrants issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Criminal Investigations Division. DPS didn't provide any further details at the time due to there being an active and ongoing investigation, a spokesperson for DPS told KXAN in a statement. Online records didn't show an attorney listed as representation for Barnett. Eanes ISD told KXAN Barnett had a fingerprinted background check. The district said Barnett wasn't determined to have a prior history and 'there were no indications of concern' prior to this incident. According to the new arrest affidavit filed in Travis County on April 28, DPS executed a search warrant at Barnett's residence and seized a total of 13 digital devices. DPS' analysis of the content on these devices revealed over 1,500 files of known Child Sexual Abuse and/or Exploitation Material (CSEM). Among those files were 'a total of 8,885 pictures/videos of female students from Barnett's class,' the affidavit states. 'The majority of Barnett's self-produced videos were zoomed into the female students' skirts, their underwear, and/or their crotch area,' the affidavit said. According to the affidavit, Barnett would play a 'Freeze and Hold the Pose' game, featuring popular cartoon characters, where his students would replicate the pose of a character shown on a screen in the classroom. Barnett would then take videos of students in those poses 'in a sexually explicit manner,' the affidavit said. According to Travis County jail records, Barnett has not been arrested on the new charge. 'We are saddened for any innocent children who may have been unknowingly objectified by an adult entrusted with their care and instruction,' Eanes ISD previously wrote in a release. 'We understand this situation is disturbing. The Eanes ISD Police Department is helping to confirm which students' images were found in the search. Those families whose children may be affected will be contacted directly by school district or DPS officials.' Andrew Schnitker contributed to this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eanes ISD applying to program to increase teacher pay
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Eanes Independent School District is looking into ways to reward teachers who are going above and beyond in the classroom through the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Teacher Incentive Allotment program. 'It does help reward teachers for the very hard work that we know they do every day in our classroom,' said Eanes ISD Superintendent Jeff Arnett. Jarrell ISD teachers awarded thousands for top performance This week the district applied for the program. If approved, districts can identify and designate outstanding teachers based on student growth and classroom observation. In March, top performing educators were awarded for their phenomenal work with nearly $170,000 divided up and given to 15 teachers at Jarrell Independent School District campuses, according to the district. It was all possible through the TIA program. There are three designations which deciphers how much a teacher can make, the designations include 'Recognized', 'Exemplary' and 'Master'. 'Each of those three levels comes with an additional amount of compensation, in our case it would be $3,000 for the earlier level, up to $12,000 for the highest level,' Arnett said. He said Eanes ISD looked at applying five years ago, but they decided not to after discussion with teachers. 'It does not apply to every teacher in our school district, [every teacher] would not be eligible for that money unfortunately,' Arnett said. 'You have to designate the teachers and the subject area.' Texas school closing due to lack of state funding, says district Teachers eligible to receive extra funding would be English and language arts, as well as math teachers in grades fourth through eighth grade. 'Most recently there are very strong signals coming from the legislature that any future funding for teacher compensation may be contingent on a district being a member of the Teacher Incentive Allotment program.' TIA funding was built into Texas state law as part of House Bill 3 during the 86th Texas Legislature. That bill provided more money for Texas classrooms and increased teacher compensation. 'Some feel like it introduces competition among teachers,' Arnett said. 'We feel like the real motivation for us to be a part of it is we can no longer afford to leave money on the table when it comes to how we compensate our staff.' Districts must spend at least 90% of the allotment on teacher compensation on the campus of the designated teacher, while up to 10% can be used to support the local designation system according to the TIA website. Erica Pauda contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Recapture in Texas: Push to reform school property tax revenue redistribution policy
The Brief There is a push to reform the way funds are redistributed among school districts in Texas. The practice is known as "recapture" or "Robin Hood". Some district leaders say the amount they're paying to help other districts is leaving their own students at a disadvantage. AUSTIN, Texas - Education is dominating the debate at the Texas Capitol this session, from school choice to teacher pay to increasing public school funding. However, there is also a push to reform the way money is redistributed among districts though a policy known as "recapture" or "Robin Hood". What we know Recapture is a state policy designed to share the wealth among school districts. In general, districts with high property values have to pay money back to the state, to help districts with less of a tax base. By the numbers Last year, Austin ISD's recapture payment was $699 million—the highest in Texas. Other neighboring school districts didn't shell out quite that much, but still sent back millions in school property tax revenue to the state in 2024, including: Eanes ISD - $95 million Lake Travis ISD - $43 million Leander ISD - $12 million Round Rock ISD - $10 million What they're saying "I look around the state and I don't feel like Austin is so much more wealthy than some of these other areas," said state Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin). "We want to do our part and we realize that we're a fortunate district," said Eanes ISD Superintendent Jeff Arnett. "But does it need to be two thirds of our local property tax revenues? There seems to be a significant imbalance there that we would certainly like for the legislature to revisit." "People are rightfully upset about that," said Goodwin. "When a district is running a deficit, when a district is having to create larger class sizes and not being able to do all the things that they need to do to have the best education possible, and we're sending money away." Goodwin questions where that money is actually going, and suggests funding districts in need should be up to the state, not other districts. "You know, there's a big bucket of money. The state isn't paying its share, in our opinion," said Goodwin. "Honestly, if we weren't paying recapture, the state could make up that difference." The other side Roger Falk of the Travis County Taxpayers Union argues Robin Hood is necessary. "The Constitution requires equal funding for all the school systems in Texas," said Falk. "It's like we're the billionaires saying, 'I don't like to pay that tax bill'." Falk argues money coming from places like Austin is a vital lifeline for other districts. "You look at like El Paso," said Falk. "It has a small fraction of the tax base, and consequently they need some help." Local perspective "When you talk about redistributing people's money, there's pros and cons to that," said taxpayer Ryan Waguespack. People we spoke to in Austin say it may be time to rethink recapture. "If they're not making enough money to cover their expenses and you're sending it out, that doesn't make a whole lot of economic sense," said Waguespack. "I do own a home here and I pay high property taxes," said Stephanie Woo, an Austin homeowner. "I think we need to have some more being distributed here." What's next Goodwin says she's optimistic some changes can be made to lessen the burden. "I'm absolutely hopeful. I have heard from Rep. Tom Oliver that he's putting forth a bill on the idea," said Goodwin. "I look forward to seeing that and I think it's a great idea. I think we should have a commission meet and talk about how we can improve our school funding formula." The Source Information in this report comes from reporting and interviews by FOX 7 Austin's 7 On Your Side reporter John Krinjak.
