BISD Bond Issue

The details are this:

Beaumont has not had a bond issue to improve schools since 1994, and before that the last one was 30 years before that.

There are 10 elementary schools in the BISD that have an enrollment of less than 300 students each. If the bond passes, these schools would be combined into 5 schools, saving $1 million dollars per campus per year. Over the life of the bond, this will be a saving of approximately $30M that will be put toward payment of the bond.

On the middle school level, there has only been one middle school built in the last 30 years - ML King Middle School. The other middle schools all need drastic improvements including HVAC, roofing, new classrooms to replace portables, and some do not even have auditoriums, like Odom, Vincent and Marshall. The middle schools will not get the needed auditoriums in this bond, but will be addressed in future bonds.

As far as the high schools go, West Brook is to the point of explosion. The West Brook campus was designed to hold approximately 1700 students, but today has an enrollment of 2600. West Brook does not have an auditorium, either. When the students have an assembly, they have to meet in the gym. The gym has a capacity of 1700. Any assembly is a fire hazard and BISD could get in real trouble if the fire marshall did a surprise inspection during a pep-rally. With this bond West Brook will get an auditorium that will seat 2600.

West Brook also has a "portable" village. There are 17 portable buildings on the campus, and all of them are falling apart. They will get a new wing to get rid of the portables, plus 6 new science labs so that all science classes will have full time use of a lab and not have to share classrooms when it is time for a dissection.

The opposition bases their opinion on the fact that there are not set locations for the new schools and the new stadium/natatorium. But, unlike a private citizen, BISD cannot decide where to build or where to purchase land until they have been given the authorization to do so by the voters. This seems to be overlooked by many and understood by few.

More information can be found at BISD'S WEB PAGE. Please look at the proposal. Among other things, it will make our school district come up to par with other school districts our size. No other 5-A school district has buildings that look like ours. In the state of Texas, we are way behind the curve. BISD has more money this year than the state will allow so they are envoking the "Robin Hood" law and taking away our excess to give to other schools. Our district is financially sound. We just cannot update our schools without the bond. If we take the excess money we have and just do the maintainence that is suggested, that would be a waste. It would only prolong the problem and we would still need the new schools, auditoriums and other upgrades. And, I happen to think the new stadium is a good idea.

This is my opinion about the bond issue. I hope that before you vote, you will think real hard about the state of the schools that our children attend. While I don't believe that children cannot learn if the paint on the walls is peeling, I do believe that we owe it to our city to have the best facilities we can.