Updated 03/10/2007 11:06:05 PM CDT

 

 

BEAUMONT - It took a full Saturday of at times divisive discussion that ended with personal reflections and an impromptu prayer, but the committee tasked with crafting a bond proposal to repair Beaumont schools settled on a probable price.

Whether their $454.8 million package has a prayer with taxpayers depends on how much fine-tuning the group can do when they meet on Thursday, whether Beaumont Independent School District's board accepts the proposal and how effectively they can sell the package to BISD taxpayers.

Time now is an issue. The committee voted 18-to-5 to push for a May 12 election, which leaves 11 business days for the above to happen before the March 12 deadline to call an election.

don't think there's a reason to delay," committee co-chair Paul Brown said before the vote. "I believe if we wait until November, it will get worse, not better."

Committee co-chair David Teuscher told the group that he thought Saturday's final figure still is too high for voters to stomach.

"I think there's a lot more work to be done," Teuscher said. "I'm worried about charging $60 million too much and leaving it on the table."

BISD's Community Bond Advisory Committee has been meeting during recent months to prioritize a list of the district's repair needs that once totaled more than $900 million.

Saturday's meeting began with a figure of about $446 million, which fluctuated during the day as several projects were added, changed or deleted.

The new total was about $8 million higher, fueled in part by an afternoon net gain of at least $15 million in "other facilities," such as practice field upgrades at West Brook and Ozen high schools and a new 1,000-seat auditorium at Ozen.

Other proposal highlights include a possible $26.6 million plan to replace South Park Middle School, building new gyms, adding classrooms and science classrooms at schools on all levels and replacing most existing portable buildings.

The committee slashed the idea of building a fourth high school.

The group's elementary school sub-committee led the group in trimming their proposal by $35 million to about $221 million, including demolishing Amelia Elementary and consolidating 10 elementary schools into five new ones.

The board mined through other projects large and small between 8:30 a.m. and about 4:45 p.m., breaking for 10 minutes in the morning and for an hour at lunch.

Committee members tiptoed around the issue of enrollment caps, attendance zones and transfers during their discussion throughout the day, until about 3 p.m., when the high school subcommittee recommended capping enrollment at 1,800 each for Central and Ozen and 2,600 for West Brook.

A group led by committee members Mark Viator and Gene Bush pressed BISD Superintendent Carrol Thomas to address the issue Saturday afternoon while discussing the district's high schools.

Viator said that enrollment projections for all schools and the fact that many parents are transferring their children from Central and Ozen to West Brook had not been discussed thoroughly during the group's talks.

Viator said school attendance zones should be redrawn to adjust for growth in Beaumont's West End, and that the committee should use enrollment projections during its discussions.

He also questioned the district's general transfer policy and its majority-minority transfer system. Viator's concern was that the group might be proposing extensive upgrades for campuses that will continue to lose students, he said.

"If we don't know what the population of that school is, we can't meet that objective," Viator said, referring to the first of the committee's listed goals.

Thomas said the committee should base its proposal on current enrollment, and that school attendance zones are "very sensitive to the district."

"We have to have freedom of choice in this district," Thomas said. "You've got to have an opportunity for transfers. The district is trying to accommodate its patrons."

Brown said there are more students leaving the district than internal transfers, and that race is a factor.

"(White students) go to Lumberton, they go to Vidor, they go to Hardin-Jefferson, they go to Mid-County," Brown said. "Why? Because their parents want them to go there."

Brown's comment, at 3:36 p.m., set the tone for a spirited 25-minute sidebar on money, power, politics and race in Beaumont - complete with personal speeches about demographics and differences.

Viator countered that race wasn't an issue, and closed his comment with a prayer.

The committee reached its final figure about an hour later. Some buried their haggard faces in their hands at times while members took turns giving personal speeches for or against the proposed number for another hour before taking a vote.

The committee cordially parted ways about 6:15 p.m., shaking hands and exchanging hugs.

A few members said during pre- and post-vote comments that they didn't agree that the $454 million number was final, and urged the committee to reconsider a November election.

"I'm going to wish them every success," committee member Zane Bledsoe said of the May effort. "I'm all for it happening whenever it happens."

Thomas applauded the committee's weeks of research for the bond, and said that members reflect the best of Beaumont.

"I think they're doing a good job of coming together," Thomas said. "Eventually, we'll get there. Just keep your eye on the prize and what's best for our kids."

In 2002, BISD's last bond proposal for $150 million in improvements failed, garnering only about 38 percent of the vote, according to The Enterprise archives.

A $56 million proposal in 1994 was BISD's last successful bond proposal.

msmith@beaumontenterprise.com

(409) 880-0723