The Poop Sandwich Served by Eanes ISD — And Why You’re Being Asked to Take Another Bite

Six Years. Six Deficits. Three Incumbents. Zero Accountability. One Election to Change It All.

By Aaron Silva, Eanes Parents Unite & Texas Education Project 103

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Let me set the scene for you.

It’s a warm May evening. The auditorium is packed — families, kids, supporters dabbing at misty eyes. Ellen Balthazar — 24 years of service, genuinely beloved by this community, and one of the most dedicated trustees Eanes ISD has ever had — delivers her emotional farewell. She gazed out at the crowd and declared, with every ounce of sincerity she possessed: “I am proud to know that I am leaving the district in good shape for Dr. Arnett.” She meant it. She believed it. And she had every reason to.

Three weeks later, Superintendent Jeff Arnett quit.

Just... quit.

Let that marinate. Arnett was no outsider parachuted in blind. He had served as deputy superintendent for six years before taking the top job in 2022 — eight years in the building, watching, learning, knowing exactly what he was inheriting. And then one day he looked at what Ellen had handed him — gift-wrapped, bow on top — looked at the remaining trustees Spradley, McMath, Clark, Hern, and Marwill staring back at him from the dais with the serene, untroubled expressions of people who had been failing upward for years and saw no reason to stop now, looked at the bow again, and said: “No thank you. I’m out.” If the man who knew this district better than almost anyone alive looked at the condition of the district and walked away — what does that tell you about the people still sitting at that dais? I’d hate to see what they’d consider a dumpster fire. Actually — I think we’re living in it. And Ellen, God bless her, was likely the last to know. 

That same evening, another chapter was closing. Former trustee Heather Sheffield had just been handed a beatdown so lopsided it would’ve made Donald Trump blush. Catherine Walker didn’t just win — she won 65%-to-whatever-was-left, a political evisceration delivered politely by Westlake parents who had finally, finally had enough of Sheffield, her spirit buttons, and the Westlake Smear Cartel soldiers she had enlisted to do her dirty work for years. The baton passed — they are now under the control of her former padawan, Trustee Kelly Marwill.

Walker’s victory sent an unmistakable signal: the community was paying attention and knew exactly what it needed — a longtime CFO with a real business mind, someone who actually knows what the word “deficit” means and, more importantly, what to do about it. It was a lighthouse moment. The community had spoken. Naturally, the board ignored it.

The board’s fumbling of a $200 million WACC endowment opportunity was the final straw for a community that had tolerated the performance long enough. Trustees had to go. And Sheffield went. Balthazar and Arnett followed shortly after, exiting stage left at the precise moment that served them best — which was, shockingly, not the moment that served our kids best.

John Troy — nice guy — meanwhile slid into Balthazar’s vacated seat unopposed and largely unnoticed, which, come to think of it, is a pretty accurate preview of what the rest of his tenure will probably look like. I hope he proves me wrong.

“Two Elections, Five Corrections!!”

That’s the mission, and the math is simple. This election and one more to follow — five total board seats turned over — and we get our district back. Three seats are on the table right now. 

So what has our current board accomplished since the great Sheffield Unraveling of last spring?

Let me give it to you straight, because someone has to:

Squat.

The district is still dragging a $5–6 million structural deficit, projected to balloon to $9 million next year — and Hern, Clark, and McMath voted for it. Again. That’s now six consecutive deficit budgets passed by this board without so much as a serious conversation about cutting administrative costs or right-sizing the organization. Six times. As any first-year business student could tell you: when you vote for a deficit six times in a row, don’t be surprised when you keep getting deficits. At least they’re consistent — you have to give them that.

“Natural attrition” — which, whatever the hell that means, sounds suspiciously like a strategy invented to avoid making an actual decision — hasn’t saved us. Teacher attrition is still hovering around 20% annually, meaning one in five teachers walks out the door every year. The $200 million WACC endowment opportunity has been traded in for a $200,000 lawsuit. Kindergarten enrollment came in below projections — again. And the state isn’t sending us any additional money.

As my father would say — and he had a way with words that would make a sailor wince — “You’re screwed, blued and tattooed, buddy.”

This is the score. This is the reality our incumbent trustees want you to overlook while they line up to ask for your vote again.

Ronald Reagan famously asked America: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” We know how that election went. I’m asking something slightly sharper: Do any of the incumbent trustees running for re-election deserve another shot?

Meet the Incumbents. Try to Stay Awake.

Let’s talk about who’s actually on the ballot — and who isn’t.

Kim McMath had the self-awareness to read the writing on the wall and voluntarily step aside, sparing us all the awkward conversation. It is, genuinely, the single most consequential thing she accomplished during her entire tenure. Her seat — Place 1 — is now open, and into that race step Kate Ivers and Afshan Khan. We’ll introduce both of them properly in a future post and let them speak for themselves.

Then there’s Diane Hern (Place 3), incumbent, who faces challenger Swasti Apte. And Laura Clark (Place 2), incumbent, who faces challenger Jennifer Blackman. Clark is a particularly remarkable case study in Eanes ISD governance: elected unopposed in 2020, re-elected unopposed in 2023, she has never once been tested by an actual campaign or required to explain herself to a voter who had a real alternative. Marketing director by day, unchallenged school board vice president by default. That streak ends now.

A brief word on Hern, because her résumé deserves a moment of honest examination. The woman holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from MIT, a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from UT, an MBA from Stanford, and a Master of Public Affairs — also from UT Austin. Four degrees. Four. Her occupation on file with the district? “Community Advocate.” With that firepower of academic credentials, the best application she could find was voting six consecutive times for a deficit budget she appears structurally unqualified to fix. No payroll to sign. No P&L to own. No budget to balance under the kind of pressure that doesn’t come with an extension or a committee vote. All that education — and not a single day of private sector business experience to show for it. Watching this board navigate a $9 million annual deficit, it shows.

Here’s what connects all three incumbents — McMath, Hern, and Clark: none of them have children currently enrolled in Eanes ISD. Not one. To be fair, having kids in the district doesn’t automatically make someone a great trustee. But it does mean you go home every night to a living, breathing reminder of exactly what’s at stake. When a budget decision lands on that board table — one that directly affects classroom sizes, teacher retention, and the quality of your child’s education tomorrow morning — it matters whether the person casting that vote feels it personally or merely professionally.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be introducing the four challengers with the depth and reverence their qualifications deserve — because their case for leadership goes far beyond the fact that they have children in this district. That’s the floor, not the ceiling. Jennifer Blackman, Swasti Apte, and Kate Ivers are accomplished parents and candidates whose qualifications speak for themselves — and I look forward to letting them do exactly that on the Eanes Parents Unite podcast. As for Afshan Khan — I don’t know much about her yet, and I think that’s exactly the right posture. We should keep an open mind, stay curious, and let her introduce herself to the community on her own terms.

If these incumbents knew how to lead, why didn’t they? If they have the answers now, where were they for the last three to six years while they were busy serving this community a $9 million annual deficit, a 20% annual teacher exodus, and a $200,000 lawsuit where a $200 million endowment once stood?

First principles demand the obvious question: Why would we hand the same people the same wheel that drove us into the same ditch?

Stay tuned. This is only Blog No. 1. We’re just getting warmed up.

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Aaron Silva is a Westlake parent and successful business entrepreneur who has never once confused “natural attrition” with a business strategy. Follow along at silva4eanes.com/blog

Early voting: April 20th–28th, 2026. Election Day: Saturday, May 2nd. If you don’t vote, the spirit button crowd wins.