BISD Bond Backoff The Right Thing To Do
My dad once told me that if an approaching situation makes the neck hair rise and puts a sick feeling in the stomach, it might be best to back off or disengage.
The Beaumont school district and its bond committee did exactly that last night with the decision to push a bond election date from May until November.
Conflict and problems gave the portly bond proposal an unbalanced feel - something that likely would have resulted in a May bond election's failure and catastrophe for BISD.
BISD absolutely needs a bond election, considering the crumbling, overcrowded campuses that should have been taken care of during the misguided 2002 bond election, when the pricetag was only $150 million compared with the current, inflation-jacked $440 million.
Voter palatability will hinge on the ability of the committee and school district to unite, sans all the conflict and divisiveness, and properly sell this bond issue to wary taxpayers. It needs the backing of everyone from the chamber to Kiwanis Club. Students, parents, business representatives and myriad community facets need to get behind it. It needs the feel of a pep rally.
With questions still hanging over the bond proposal, there was no way that BISD had the time to mount a successful bond-marketing campaign.
Now, the district has more than half a year to hammer down details and begin the sorely needed consensus-building that the 2002 bond election lacked.
Again, as I've said before, this bond issue must be broken into two parts.
Under Proposition 1, the district should ask for the new construction at the elementary schools and renovations to the middle and high schools. These are essential needs.
Proposition 2 would include everything in Proposition 1 as well as the new districtwide stadium and natatorium at a neutral site. Approval of Proposition 2 would cancel Proposition 1.
If BISD doesn't approach the bond election in this way, it risks having the essential needs torpedoed and waiting possibly years - like it did from 2002 to this year - to get another bond proposal on the table.
If this happens, $440 million might seem like a bargain by comparison.
The Beaumont school district and its bond committee did exactly that last night with the decision to push a bond election date from May until November.
Conflict and problems gave the portly bond proposal an unbalanced feel - something that likely would have resulted in a May bond election's failure and catastrophe for BISD.
BISD absolutely needs a bond election, considering the crumbling, overcrowded campuses that should have been taken care of during the misguided 2002 bond election, when the pricetag was only $150 million compared with the current, inflation-jacked $440 million.
Voter palatability will hinge on the ability of the committee and school district to unite, sans all the conflict and divisiveness, and properly sell this bond issue to wary taxpayers. It needs the backing of everyone from the chamber to Kiwanis Club. Students, parents, business representatives and myriad community facets need to get behind it. It needs the feel of a pep rally.
With questions still hanging over the bond proposal, there was no way that BISD had the time to mount a successful bond-marketing campaign.
Now, the district has more than half a year to hammer down details and begin the sorely needed consensus-building that the 2002 bond election lacked.
Again, as I've said before, this bond issue must be broken into two parts.
Under Proposition 1, the district should ask for the new construction at the elementary schools and renovations to the middle and high schools. These are essential needs.
Proposition 2 would include everything in Proposition 1 as well as the new districtwide stadium and natatorium at a neutral site. Approval of Proposition 2 would cancel Proposition 1.
If BISD doesn't approach the bond election in this way, it risks having the essential needs torpedoed and waiting possibly years - like it did from 2002 to this year - to get another bond proposal on the table.
If this happens, $440 million might seem like a bargain by comparison.
posted by Brian Pearson at 10:10 AM
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