BISD Bond Proposal Stands At $454 Million & Could Be On May Ballot

February 24, 2007 - 6:25PM

 

BISD Bond Committee members have been working hard the past several weeks to reduce the price of a bond issue to pay for school improvements. But tonight they've ended up with a higher number than what they started with. This morning, the wish list was worth about $446,000,000. That number later went up by $8,000,000. Now the bond committee must decide, deal or no deal.

In 2002 a bond issue was rejected because the price tag was high and many voters felt they had not been informed on the details surrounding the issue. This time, a BISD Bond Committee is working to prevent that.

"What we did this morning is open up the whole spreadsheet, go over it line by line, make sure what we're estimating is gonna be the real numbers what it'll cost voter to make sure it will be able to pass," said Dr. David Teuscher.

Committee Co-Chairman, Dr. David Teuscher, says one of the biggest challenges is getting everyone to take a global perspective, rather than focusing on their own interests.

"I don't think people are willing to give up on their sacred cow," said Teuscher.

The bond proposal must be submitted by March 12th in order to make it on the May ballot.
With only 16 days left to prepare, some say it would be better to wait until November.

"May shouldn't be the critical element. Getting it right should be. Then to bring it to the community," said Mark Viator.

don't think we're ready to tell the public at this time what we would recommend. we will continue to study. continue to work

The committee started Saturday morning at $446,000,000. By the end of the day, that number had gone up to $454,000,000. Tischer wants that number to go down, but his Co-Chairman, Paul Brown, wants to leave it as is and present it to the school board.

A number of factors have become hot button issues for the committee members and the community.

The committe is focusing on some main issues that include:

Whether to build a fourth high school
Whether to build 8 or 9 new elementary schools or to renovate them
They're also dealing with the problem of over-crowding in schools
Finally, whether to build three new practice fields for high school athletics or a district wide stadium to comply with UIL standards.

Although members may not agree on the details of those issues everyone seems to agree on this.

"We have to do this. It's essential for the future of Beaumont," said Dr. David Teuscher.

In 2002, a bond committee came up with a wish list worth $400,000,000. This was the compilation of all the problems the district needed help with. But the actual bond issue proposal that ended up on the ballot was $150,000,000 and voters rejected it.