BISD Bond Boondoggle Bears Fruit
I used to have an old Chevy Blazer, a hand-me-down from Dad.
Him and I had many adventures in that vehicle, built in 1984. After he gave it to me, I put a lot of miles on it. I made round trips to Michigan and Arizona. I drove it all over Texas. By the time I sold it, it had about a quarter-million miles on it.
One thing I realized early was not to let little repairs go for long. Whether it was shock absorbers, brake pads or some little light that stopped coming on, I'd get it taken care of immediately.
To do otherwise would result a vehicle with a whole lot of little problems that posed an insurmountable cost to fix all at once.
The Beaumont school district now stands at the base of such an overwhelming problem, much of which stems from a failed $150 million bond issue in 2002.
BISD went for too many marbles in that bond issue - and they went about it the wrong way. The district did a poor job of rallying public support, but a big ballot killer was, among other things, lumping a $4 million Lamar football stadium renovation into the mix. The measure failed to draw even chamber of commerce support.
What BISD should have done was present the bond under two options. Option 1 should have had all the critical needs, such as renovating or replacing horrifically outdated schools. You put all the bells and whistles - such as football stadiums, gyms and auditoriums - in the larger Option 2. If voters approve Option 2, then Option 1 is void.
I've seen myriad bond issues pass under this approach, often with Option 2 getting the thumbs up. It gives voters a choice and keeps the bells and whistles from dooming the absolute musts.
Voters in 2002 hammered the overconfident BISD's bond proposal, with 8,309, or 62 percent of the 13,408 ballots cast, going against it.
Ouch.
Later in the year, a group of residents calling itself Citizens United for Academic Excellence Committee formed to formulate a new bond strategy.
However, the committed didn't come up with a proposal until early 2005, almost three years after the 2002 bond disaster.
Now, two years and many construction-cost leaps later, BISD faces a wish list that started at an eye-exploding $1 billion that has been trimmed to still-jaw-dropping $653 million, some $23 million above the district's legal debt limit. A Houston consulting firm advised that a $450 million bond issue would be more realistic.
To make matters worse, the district is rushing toward a May election instead of waiting until November. BISD won't have much time to peddle what might be a make-or-break bond issue for the troubled school district, whose quality has caused real estate mayhem and forced desperate parents to camp out in line overnight to apply to have their children transferred to other schools.
Much of the possible taxpayer pocketbook pain of this could have been averted had BISD done a better job of selling the 2002 bond issue. It also should not have waited five years to put a new proposal on the ballot, thereby avoided the skyrocketing construction costs thanks to a terrible 2005 hurricane season.
There is no question that a bond issue is warranted. Schools are crowded and outdated. Portable buildings are everywhere. Academic performance is below standards. Parents are disgusted. Teacher morale has to be suffering.
With the Southeast Texas industrial explosion expected in the next five to 10 years, BISD must improve or risk seeing what so many parents - including myself - have done to ensure that their children are getting a quality education: buy a home elsewhere.
Yes, my wife and I felt we had no choice but to get our children out of BISD. We were so motivated to do so that we painfully shouldered a double mortgage for months. So many prospective buyers fled after learning the attendance zones for our Beaumont home, and we feel lucky to have sold the house at all, to a couple with grown children.
BISD's precarious situation could have been avoided, and now a do-or-die, albeit hefty, bond proposal looms this year.
With the BISD vehicle's windshield cracked, tires bald, alternator belt squeeling and muffler rusting, let's hope the district can somehow shoulder the weight of getting its smoking transmission fixed.
Him and I had many adventures in that vehicle, built in 1984. After he gave it to me, I put a lot of miles on it. I made round trips to Michigan and Arizona. I drove it all over Texas. By the time I sold it, it had about a quarter-million miles on it.
One thing I realized early was not to let little repairs go for long. Whether it was shock absorbers, brake pads or some little light that stopped coming on, I'd get it taken care of immediately.
To do otherwise would result a vehicle with a whole lot of little problems that posed an insurmountable cost to fix all at once.
The Beaumont school district now stands at the base of such an overwhelming problem, much of which stems from a failed $150 million bond issue in 2002.
BISD went for too many marbles in that bond issue - and they went about it the wrong way. The district did a poor job of rallying public support, but a big ballot killer was, among other things, lumping a $4 million Lamar football stadium renovation into the mix. The measure failed to draw even chamber of commerce support.
What BISD should have done was present the bond under two options. Option 1 should have had all the critical needs, such as renovating or replacing horrifically outdated schools. You put all the bells and whistles - such as football stadiums, gyms and auditoriums - in the larger Option 2. If voters approve Option 2, then Option 1 is void.
I've seen myriad bond issues pass under this approach, often with Option 2 getting the thumbs up. It gives voters a choice and keeps the bells and whistles from dooming the absolute musts.
Voters in 2002 hammered the overconfident BISD's bond proposal, with 8,309, or 62 percent of the 13,408 ballots cast, going against it.
Ouch.
Later in the year, a group of residents calling itself Citizens United for Academic Excellence Committee formed to formulate a new bond strategy.
However, the committed didn't come up with a proposal until early 2005, almost three years after the 2002 bond disaster.
Now, two years and many construction-cost leaps later, BISD faces a wish list that started at an eye-exploding $1 billion that has been trimmed to still-jaw-dropping $653 million, some $23 million above the district's legal debt limit. A Houston consulting firm advised that a $450 million bond issue would be more realistic.
To make matters worse, the district is rushing toward a May election instead of waiting until November. BISD won't have much time to peddle what might be a make-or-break bond issue for the troubled school district, whose quality has caused real estate mayhem and forced desperate parents to camp out in line overnight to apply to have their children transferred to other schools.
Much of the possible taxpayer pocketbook pain of this could have been averted had BISD done a better job of selling the 2002 bond issue. It also should not have waited five years to put a new proposal on the ballot, thereby avoided the skyrocketing construction costs thanks to a terrible 2005 hurricane season.
There is no question that a bond issue is warranted. Schools are crowded and outdated. Portable buildings are everywhere. Academic performance is below standards. Parents are disgusted. Teacher morale has to be suffering.
With the Southeast Texas industrial explosion expected in the next five to 10 years, BISD must improve or risk seeing what so many parents - including myself - have done to ensure that their children are getting a quality education: buy a home elsewhere.
Yes, my wife and I felt we had no choice but to get our children out of BISD. We were so motivated to do so that we painfully shouldered a double mortgage for months. So many prospective buyers fled after learning the attendance zones for our Beaumont home, and we feel lucky to have sold the house at all, to a couple with grown children.
BISD's precarious situation could have been avoided, and now a do-or-die, albeit hefty, bond proposal looms this year.
With the BISD vehicle's windshield cracked, tires bald, alternator belt squeeling and muffler rusting, let's hope the district can somehow shoulder the weight of getting its smoking transmission fixed.
posted by Brian Pearson at 10:37 AM
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