"The likes certainly outweigh the dislikes, so I wholeheartedly support this bond issue," Hudspeth said during a Wednesday informational session for Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce members.

That session, which drew about a dozen chamber members, was one of three this week to answer questions about the bond package before members decide whether the chamber as a group should support it.

Voters will decide Nov. 6 whether to authorize the school district to borrow $388.6 million for improvements. The package includes nine new elementary schools replacing 14 existing ones, a new South Park Middle School, a district-wide athletic complex with a natatorium and improvements at high schools and other middle schools.

"If they vote to endorse it, I'm sure they'll vote to help pass it," Chamber President Jim Rich said after the midday session.

The chamber took no position on the district's last bond issue in 2002, and the $150 million package failed. Some attributed the failure to the lack of support from the business community.

Charlie Foxworth, a commercial real estate agent and chamber board member, said he supports the bond package and hopes to see the chamber use its influence in a positive way to pass it.

"The business community is going to pay 70 percent of the taxes," Foxworth said. The chamber's role now "has to be to get the business community on board," he said.

Not everyone attending the informational sessions favors the plan.

Karen Neild, an English teacher for Beaumont ISD whose husband is an owner of H.B. Neild and Sons construction company, said she does not trust school district officials and will not vote for this bond package, which she believes should have been broken into smaller proposals.

"We're trying to find a good reason to support it, but we haven't been able to find one, not at this level," Neild said.

Trust has been a continuing theme for many in the business community, Rich said.

"Nobody argues about the need. Everybody understands the price tag. The biggest issue is the construction management part of this," Rich said.

Plans to name a project management firm prior to the bond election could help convince voters that bond proceeds will be properly spent with proper oversight, Rich said.

The school district is preparing a request for proposals for project management, which could be ready by Friday. Plans are to select a project management firm at a school board meeting Oct. 18.

"I think that will go a long way toward building trust," chamber board member Steve Grantham, a banker, said Wednesday.

Schools have been a divisive issue in Beaumont for too long, Grantham said.

"It's bigger than all of us, than any one individual. We need to get beyond that," Grantham said. "... I hope we can pass a bond issue that will set the stage for some real growth."

Members of the Community Bond Advisory Committee, which developed the bond proposal and are charged to help pass it and oversee implementation, have been making presentations about the bond to other groups such as PTAs, said committee co-chair Dr. David Teuscher.

Teuscher plans presentations on the bond issue at 11:30 a.m. today at a Press Club of Southeast Texas meeting at Rio Rita's, 230 Crockett St. in Beaumont and Oct. 3 at a Beaumont Rotary Club meeting.