LIVE COVERAGE:
Group meets to seek change on BISD board
A group of Beaumont residents with hopes to change the way Beaumont ISD board members are elected will meet today at 3:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Beaumont Enterprise reporter Beth Rankin will be providing live updates during the meeting.
3:32
Beth Rankin:
Meeting is about to start.
3:33
Beth Rankin:
There are about two dozen people in attendance so far with a few more filtering in slowly.
3:38
Beth Rankin:
Starting now
3:38
Beth Rankin:
Andre Cokinos speaking
3:39
Beth Rankin:
"People ask me why we're doing this, I've got to make it personal." Cokinos
3:40
Beth Rankin:
We need at-large candidates to represent the taxpayers, says Cokinos
3:41
Beth Rankin:
"The whole thing is to get the taxpayers more involved." Cokinos
3:41 Beth Rankin
3:41
Beth Rankin:
Need 12,000 petition signatures to get this on the ballot, Cokinos says
3:42
Beth Rankin:
"We want to change the school board from seven single-member districts to five with two at-large seats." Cokinos
3:43
Beth Rankin:
Community member speaks up to send interested folks to http://www.
savesouthpark.org
3:46
Beth Rankin:
Meeting is progressing as a Q&A session right now with residents asking logistical questions about various BISD issues, currently inquiring about district boundary lines
3:48
Beth Rankin:
Discussing Blanchette Elementary construction
3:48
Beth Rankin:
"I'm not a construction guy I'm just a taxpayer but those things worry me." Cokinos, regarding construction delays
3:50
Beth Rankin:
"Our issue here is when you restructure (district lines), what happens to our tradition and our neighborhoods?" asks Blanchette Elementary student parent Kay Gilbert
3:51
Beth Rankin:
"I just want the taxpayers to have a say," Cokinos says. "If tha taxpayers come out and say 'absolutely not we want to keep it just the way it is,' then my job is done because the taxpayers have spoken." Cokinos
3:53
Beth Rankin:
"This is not a Sallie Curtis issue, this is a district-wide issue, and let the taxpayers decide," says Cokinos, who is a Sallie Curtis parent
3:53
Beth Rankin:
Cokinos says the goal is to get this on the May 2010 ballot
3:54
Beth Rankin:
By now there are about three dozen residents in attendance
3:56
Beth Rankin:
For residents in attendance, a major concern today seems to be district boundary lines
3:57
Beth Rankin:
"Those two at-large positions would represent everybody in the district and that way if like our friend Ms. Gilbert has concerns, she has two more voices to go to. That's the idea. This is not cut and dry. The petition, that's all I'm doing, to try to get the taxpayer vote." Cokinos
4:02
Beth Rankin:
"I wish when the Sallie Curtis thing was going on that I had two more school board members that I could go to. All we wanted the school board to do was at least table it for a month and listen to the concerns." Cokinos
4:09
Beth Rankin:
Blanchette Elementary parent Kay Gilbert discussing concerns about divisions between black and white taxpayers/voters.
4:09
Beth Rankin:
"Somebody's gonna have to tell the truth about what it is. It is what it is and it is a black and white issue." Gilbert
4:09
Beth Rankin:
"It's gonna become a raging war again," Gilbert says. "No one wants that."
4:13
Beth Rankin:
"There is a fraction of the community that doesn't like what our school board is doing so they put their kids in private schools," says another resident. "There's some apathy and some dollars and cents here."
4:13
Beth Rankin:
Same resident brings up the new $1 million school board. "I can hold up two hands and tell you the score of the football game."
4:14
Beth Rankin:
Residents now voicing concern over the bond issue
4:16
Beth Rankin:
(Reporter's note: in
4:13 post, when I typed $1 million school board, I meant score board)
4:18
Beth Rankin:
Resident asked who would draw the boundary, attorney Michael Getz says the school board would
4:20
Beth Rankin:
Cokinos says there is a plan of action for canvassing the entire district to bring awareness to the issue
4:21
Beth Rankin:
Cokinos solicits the audience for more comments, questions and concerns
4:21
Beth Rankin:
A resident suggests Cokinos run for one of the potential at-large trustee slots
4:23
Beth Rankin:
"I am here as a taxpayer and as a parent and a husband," Cokinos responds. "We're Beaumont-bound. We're here. We're not going anywhere."
4:23
Beth Rankin:
The meeting is now over.
4:23
Beth Rankin:
For more in-depth coverage of the meeting from education reporter Emily Guevara, watch beaumontenterprise.com and check out tomorrow's paper.