Eanes Officials Withdraw Job Offer to Assistant Principal

Link: Austin American Statesmen - Eanes officials withdraw job offer to assistant principal

Category: Education

Level: Local

Concerning a problem/issue that individuals/families face

Why is this important/how does this affect individuals/families?: This affects the students of Westlake High School in a positive way. Due to the withdrawing of the job offer for Mr. Paul Weil, students will no longer have to interact with a man who sent “questionable texts” to a former student. However, this situation has negatively affected the image of Eanes ISD, in that their creditability will now be questioned.

My Views: I support the decision of the Eanes school district to withdraw their job offer for assistant principal to Paul Weil.  To be honest, I am confused as to why he was considered in the first place. Although Mr. Weil was never charged with a crime, he was criminally investigated and fully admitted to sending inappropriate text messages to a male student while he was dean at a Chicago-area school. In addition to admitting to the texts, he also resigned from his job. Given these facts, how can this man be considered “the best candidate for the position”? Not only did Mr. Weil lose his credibility when he sent those text messages, but Eanes ISD officials, particularly Westlake Principal John Carter, have lost credibility through their initial decision to hire him. It is very interesting to learn that John Carter, Principal of Westlake High School, worked with Mr. Weil during his criminal investigation. Mr. Carter clearly had a complete knowledge of the investigation of Mr. Weil, and still strongly supported his hiring. Knowing this, I question the relationship between Mr. Weil and Mr. Carter. On the upside of this situation, it is comforting to know Eanes ISD values the opinions and views of their community and have therefor withdrawn Mr. Weil’s job offer. The article states that the district needs “to be able to preserve that trust and confidence” within the community. However, I think that the community's trust and confidence in Eanes ISD has diminished greatly due to this situation.