Updated 08/03/2007 05:59:24 PM CDT

 

The men and women who served on the Beaumont school district's bond issue committee deserve the community's gratitude. They are taking on a big, important task. And they are doing it on their own time, without pay.

 

All that said, on the most crucial issue of all, a majority of these people simply do not get it. They think voters will approve a single, take-it-or-leave bond issue of around $400 million.

That is highly unlikely. It virtually guarantees another bitter defeat and more division in the community.

The final decision on this question rests with the school board. It absolutely must offer voters as many options as possible.

For example, voters should be able to decide on separate propositions that would pay for improvements at the elementary, middle and high school level. Major expenditures for the arts or athletics also should be separate from academic needs.

The distinction shouldn't be based on things like one side of town vs. the other. That could tempt some residents to vote for schools in their neighborhood at the expense of someone else.

Voters appreciate being given more control on bond issues with multiple options. They might surprise a lot of people and approve most of them. Maybe all. Some approval is better than none, and it will allow the district to make some progress.

The school board must thank the bond committee for its hard work. Then it must ignore its recommendation for a single proposition and start deciding how to subdivide this challenge for voters