BFTSP

Mark your calendars….

for a very important event.   BFT will sponsor a Public Forum for the BISD Bond election.  It is crucial that our membership be present, for several reasons.

• We need a positive meeting that highlights the needs of our students and our teachers.
• We need to offset any negative participation as this is a public meeting that will be advertised in The Facts.  If the naysayers come to the meeting (they are invited, too) we have to have the positive force and good vibes to change their attitudes or at least to quieten their discontent.
• We will hold a BFT membership meeting after the public portion, to put our game plan together and elicit participation of a greater number.

So be there, please.

Tuesday, October 13 ***6:00 p.m.***at Lake Jackson Civic Center (Terrace Room II)

It is time to step up to the plate…

Barbeque that is.  For BISD Kids is hosting a Tailgate Party on Friday, October 2^nd from 5-7:00 at the Freeport Municipal Park (at Pavilion) It is a fundraiser to support the bond election.  Brian’s BBQ will cater.  The plates are $8, the cause is good, the fun is free.  Even if you don’t plan to attend the game come early, eat and support our cause. 

If you can help an hour or two to make this a success, let me know.  Remember if you value something, lip service is the lowest level of exhibiting value, then it is monetary contribution and the highest value is shown by giving of your time and effort.  This bond election is very important to education in our community.

Calling all voters….

We have an important task to accomplish by October 5th.  That is the deadline for voters to register to vote in the November 3rd BISD bond election.  BFT is committed to contact those BFT members and BISD employees who are not registered to encourage them to register to vote.  This is a very important step in the process to pass the bond.

Other strategies to accomplish our bond goal is to contact all BFT members to be sure they understand the facts of the issue,  to support the bond and to vote early “for” the bond.  We will personally contact all members, prior to or during the early voting.  We will also follow up on members to determine if we were effective.

We will also use our resources to use the above strategies with other BISD employees and retired educators in the community. 

BFT will host a public forum at the Lake Jackson Civic Center on October 13th at 6:00 to provide information to our members, other BISD employees and the community.

With these strategies we will meet our goal….$166 million for education.

Maj Tahal….

or whatever….

The continual use of this description of Lake Jackson Intermediate is so trite and overused.   The cost of this school would have been no more or no less per square foot with or without the façade.  The school is situated in the heart of Lake Jackson and it would have been a great disservice to our community to replace a 50 year-old box with a new box.  The design of the school does not have to detract from the environment it is in placed in to be economical or effective.  A new school that is part of the focus of the community should convey beauty especially in a community that has pride.  We don’t have to build unattractive, boxlike schools in order to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money.  The other schools built at the same times,  i.e. Velasco Elementary, Clute Intermediate,  Brazosport High School, have attractive facades too and are comparable in every way to Lake Jackson Intermediate.  The continual criticism of LJI is mean-spirited and as my mother would say, “It’s tacky”. 

Are you tired of this “Taj Mahal” description, too.  Add your $.02 below.

Questions continue…

One of the questions about the Bond Election that I have received is, Will we use the same architect and construction companies this time?  It seems that some were not happy with the process or the results.  I was employed at Brazosport High School during the building/rebuilding of that campus.  My experience was not good.  It seemed that every day instruction was disrupted by construction issues, such as no water, no electricity, no a/c, don’t go here, move there….it was continual.  Instruction was disrupted and probably to the detriment of the school and its accountability ratings.

Here is the answer.  The archectural firm that was used last time was PBK.  The construction firm was Drymalla.  PBK has conducted the master plan process, voluntarily and free to the district.  When the bond is passed, the BISD administration will interview firms and proposals and make a recommendation to the Board about an architect and subsequently a construction firm.

Please post your questions.

Patriotic Grace…

The Executive Committee and the COPE/Advocacy Committee met last night and after a long conversation decided to support the BISD bond election.  Now is the time to become educated on the facts and the pros/cons for the proposal so that as BISD’s education experts we can facilitate an informed discussion of the issues.  We cannot reject our responsibility to disseminate accurate information or our responsibility to vote on Tuesday, November 3.

This morning I considered the challenges we face in presenting the facts and a vision of education for the future.  I also considered the challenge of fulfilling our obligation to our community and our children and I read this clipping from today’s Dallas Morning News,

In her new book, former White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan notes the toxic trend in our recent public discourse: “What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace … a grace that takes the long view, apprehends the moment we’re in, comes up with ways of dealing with it, and eschews the politically cheap and manipulative.”

If not this, what?  If not now, when?

Please send me your questions about the proposal and I will use this forum to answer your questions.