UPDATE: BISD board chooses to appeal in South Park case

August 10, 2009 9:49 AM
Scott Lawrence and Ashley Rodrigue

BEAUMONT - The Beaumont school board tonight decided to appeal a judge's temporary order preventing the district from demolishing South Park Middle School.

Trustees met Monday at 7 p.m. at a special board meeting.

The board spent about an hour in executive session deciding the district's next move in this legal fight that is now on it's sixth week.

When the decision was announced, the reaction, from a full board room, was mixed.

In addition to choosing the appeal, the district also approved the lease of two more portables for the South Park campus to use as a band hall and a choir room.

Assistant Superintendent Terry Ingram says the 400-or-so-students registered for this school year will attend classes in the portables already on the campus when school starts August 24th.

The two decisions are the first from the board on the South Park saga since the Beaumont Heritage Society turned to the courts to save the old school on July 1st.

A month later, District Judge Bob Wortham sided with the Beaumont Heritage Society when he granted a temporary injunction preventing the district's plans to tear down the school building as part of the $389 million dollar bond proposal.

The board had planned this emergency meeting for last Thursday.. but a judge ruled the issue wasn't an emergency.. according to the state's Open Meetings law.

The Examiner Newspaper sought injunctive relief to prevent the August 6 emergency meeting because it said the meeting didn't fit the guidelines prescribed by the State for an emergency meeting.

Judge Milton Shuffield granted The Examiner a Temporary Restraining Order and held a hearing.

Shuffield ruled the planned meeting didn't constitute an emergency.

BISD spokeswoman Jessie Haynes told KFDM News the district's position is the posting meets all state guidelines for an emergency meeting. The district contends the matter is an emergency because the board must consider whether to appeal the Temporary Injunction issued by Judge Wortham, as well as consider immediate mediation ordered by the Court. The district also believes the matter constitutes an emergency because of the immediate need to possibly relocate students from the South Park campus to an alternate site if the restraining order becomes permanent.

At Monday night's meeting, questions were raised once again about a possible violation to the Open Meetings Act when the board brought non-staff members into its executive session. At least two were employees of Parsons, the company hired to oversee the construction and spending of the bond.

When asked about the legality of the group attending executive session, district attorney Melody Chappell said the men are legal experts for the district.

Judge Wortham set a September 21 trial date on a Permanent Injunction. Both parties must make an attempt at mediation before September 6.


http://www.kfdm.com/articles/consider-33414-school-south.html