BEAUMONT - Bickering over bad numbers and when to schedule an election dominated a Thursday meeting where a community committee had hoped to finalize a bond proposal to improve Beaumont schools.
The cost of proposed improvements stood at about $450 million Thursday, though the exact total was unclear because of numerous errors in spreadsheets presented by Carl Rabenaldt of 3DI, the district's consultant.
The committee will next meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday before a 7 p.m. presentation to the school board.
The board will decide whether to call for a May election, as a majority of committee members voted for Saturday, or wait until November to send a package to voters, as several committee members urged Thursday.
The cost of the package still could change based on Thursday's discussions, which included rebuilding Regina-Howell Elementary instead of remodeling it and remodeling Ogden and Dunbar elementary schools rather than combining them into a new school.
Committee co-chair Dr. David Teuscher, who urged members to wait for a November election, said he felt "steamrolled" by the committee's switch from consensus-building to majority rule at the last meeting with the push for a May bond election.
"I think this is defendable, but I still don't have the information I need to defend it," Teuscher said, noting the committee needs more time to educate voters.
If a May election is pushed, Teuscher said he believes it will fail.
"I think it will divide this community in a way that will be very, very ugly," Teuscher said.
Co-chairman Paul Brown, who supports a May bond election, said waiting until November would cost an extra $60 million in inflation.
"We still have two months to keep on hammering and keep on working," Brown said. "I don't care how you package it, there are some folks who are never going to support it."
Arguments over whether to wait for consensus or push ahead seemed to split along racial lines, with white committee members arguing for more time and black committee members pushing for a May vote.
Gwen Ambres, who is black, said the committee had decided Saturday to try for May and did not need to revisit the issue.
Regarding arguments the community did not know enough about the proposal, Ambres said, "I think we're selling the community short."
Dayna Simmons, who is white, said she initially hoped for a May ballot, too, but "if we put this on the May ballot, it will not happen. I don't want this to fail."
The Rev. Oveal Walker and Paul Jones, both of whom are black, suggested presenting a proposal to the school board in time to call a May election, but leaving the decision to the board about whether to send it to voters in May or November.
"It's very obvious to me that we're not going to get a consensus on May or November because some of us have already dug in on both sides," Jones said. "I believe we can get a consensus on a dollar figure."
The school board must call an election by March 12 to put the bond issue before voters on May 12. November would be the next opportunity for an election under state law.
bgallaspy@beaumontenterprise.com(409) 880-0726
Updated 03/15/2007 11:06:06 PM CDT