The Fate Of South Park Middle School Remains A Question

Reported by Brandon Jones
Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 @ 08:56 pm CST

As the new school year approaches, the fate of South Park Middle School remains in question.

Alumni and the Beaumont Heritage Society want to stop the district from tearing it down.

But the district says building a new campus is more feasible.

Thursday, the district questioned a petition with the signatures of 2,700 people wanting to save the school.

The district says some of the signatures may have been minors.

Even its spokesperson says the petition didn't directly ask whether South Park should be torn down.

"There's nothing in the petition that said I want to approach the district. It only said I'm lending my support or I'm opposed to busing." BISD Attorney Melody Chappell said.

The district says 262 of the 2700 signatures came from the south end of Beaumont, which may not fairly represent people living near the school.

"I don' think they considered that the South Park School District encompass not just the area of South Park but a lot of the west end too." Attorney Mike Getz said.

The district did have to answer some tough questions about their construction standards versus the Texas Education Agency.

If demolished, the new South Park would have 800-square foot classrooms.

Testimony resumes Friday morning.


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