BISD bond election

So the voters have spoken and they don't think any of the schools in Bonham need a thing done to them....every campus is just fine the way it is.... An I.W. Evans teacher fell recently - tripped over a rug covering a bunch of electrical cords and severely broke her shoulder and arm. Her family probably doesn't share your view right now that all is well on that campus....
Bonham, please wake up and see that we desparately need to care enough about the education of our children to spend some money and make these campuses safe! I hope we get another chance to make this right...

Or maybe the votes thought it was an outrageous bond issue. Ever thought of that? Maybe they saw through the smoke that the supt. was throwing out there with his numbers and looked at the actual cost it was going to be. Bingo!

I saw all the pictures the school district threw out there showing things in disrepair. What is the maintenance department doing? Put them to work and start fixing some of it.

I believe that is exactly what the bond election was supposed to do - provide money to fix the problems. The only reason the Mr. Cruse is a knucklehead is for still being here trying to help us.

The voters in Bonham don't care what is being asked for - they just vote it down. But they have no problem buying cigarettes and lottery tickets....

You can only do so much with paint, soap, water, and repairs. There comes a time that things must be replaced. If people would really take the time and visit the schools they would see what needs to be done.

It is a sad that extension cords have to be run in classrooms so that technology can be used or a lab can be completed. I don't think from what I have seen that these rooms are able to handle todays technology.
The people of Bonham need to wake up and if you don't like what the school board is proposing then show up at a school board meeting and voice your concern. Mr. Cruse is actually trying to do what is right for the children of Bonham ISD.
Stop whining.

Instead of running extension cords, maybe the maintenance department should have ran electricity properly. Why do we have guys in maintenance and money in the coffers if we aren't going to use the resources properly?

I'm sure the schools in Bonham could use some improvement, but having graduated from the old high school on Main street they do look fairly good to me. I've been gone from Bonham for about 28 years but was born and raised and spent the first 30 years of my life there. I still vist regulary and I am impressed with the changes to the town.
Taxes are not a popular subject anywhere these days as people everywhere are having a tough time with the current economic situation. From what I'm seeing here maybe the school board needs to re-think their needs and be more specific with changes so that the citizens can see the real need.

Dear Ex,
Other than the 1 elementary school, BHS built in early 70's, was last new campus. Head start has 85+ on waiting list. Finley Oats is teaching in closets. IW Evans is deplorable with unisex bathrooms and asbestos insulation. It would cost close to 1 million to tear down. 6 more portables are on their way to that campus now. BHS has water leaks and mold throughout and inadequate science and media labs to teach the taks test. The Board allowed a separate group to tour each campus and identify needs. Panel came back with recommendations, and a series of very informative meetings were held, and advertised with poor attendance. The political action committee and architectural firm posted their plans in plain site for everyone. There could be a door to door interview with everyone and no common ground could be reached on anything beneficial for the children of this community. A convicted felon used mail-in ballots to get elected on the board, and his kid goes to Leonard district. Please go walk through IW Evans next time in town. I share the same history as you, except I took a gamble and moved my family back thinking the community would care for them as I was when I attended. If you get interested in moving back and wanna buy a house let me know...

Beat the dead dog wrote:

Dear Ex,
Other than the 1 elementary school, BHS built in early 70's, was last new campus. Head start has 85+ on waiting list. Finley Oats is teaching in closets. IW Evans is deplorable with unisex bathrooms and asbestos insulation. It would cost close to 1 million to tear down. 6 more portables are on their way to that campus now. BHS has water leaks and mold throughout and inadequate science and media labs to teach the taks test. The Board allowed a separate group to tour each campus and identify needs. Panel came back with recommendations, and a series of very informative meetings were held, and advertised with poor attendance. The political action committee and architectural firm posted their plans in plain site for everyone. There could be a door to door interview with everyone and no common ground could be reached on anything beneficial for the children of this community. A convicted felon used mail-in ballots to get elected on the board, and his kid goes to Leonard district. Please go walk through IW Evans next time in town. I share the same history as you, except I took a gamble and moved my family back thinking the community would care for them as I was when I attended. If you get interested in moving back and wanna buy a house let me know...

I can understand where you are coming from, but the bottom line is that the people voted and the bond did not pass. We just went through this same thing with several of the school districts around me and I can only imagine that the reason these initives don't pass is that people are really scared of having their taxes raised at a time when the economy is so unsettled.
I will always love my time in Bonham and I still have many great friends there, but I would never move back. I've been gone long enough now that my present community feels like home to me and I am very happy with that.
I hope that you all can come to some agreement that is satisfactory to both sides and that progress can continue in the County Seat of Fannin County

Thanks for your warm wishes. Best of luck. I understand and see the economy problem. Unforunately, when it comes to taxes, there is always the tax-base to consider. Industry will have a harder time moving to our community, and what little we have could close with this failure. As they and their workers move on, the tax burden increases for each citizen. Shame more don't understand this.

Bonham and the local economy have held their own after losing General Cable and BCBS, so the people find a way somehow. I'm sure we can keep the tumbleweeds out of the way until the end of the year even with this Big Bonham Bond not passing.

Finley Oats seems to meet and exceed the challenges of a "poor facility":
2003 - 2004
TEA Recognized Campus
Gold Performance Acknowledgments:
Commended Performance: Reading / English Language Arts
2004-2005
TEA Recognized Campus
Gold Performance Acknowledgments:
Commended Performance: Reading / English Language Arts
2005-2006
TEA Recognized Campus
2007-2008
TEA Recognized Campus
2008-2009
TEA Exemplary Campus



Gold Performance Acknowledgements:
Commended Performance: Reading / English Language Arts
Meets Adequate Yearly Progress
No Child Left Behind

I voted for this bond election, but the reality is that the majority of the voters who cared enough to vote - a whopping 5%- voted it down. That means either trying again in the spring (with more information and greater access to that information) or accepting it as a lost cause and moving to a town that is embraces the 21st century and cares about the quality of their children's education......maybe we should just give it back to them and let them get all their information from coffee shops like "the old days".....

"give it back to them"? What are you talking about there?

Why is it that when any town or city votes down a bond election that people who supported the lost cause rip the people and the town?

Like I said previously, it was voted down by over 2-1. That should open some eyes, key word should, at the school district. They may want to rethink their operations and how they are going about things. It was an excessive amount and all the money wasn't even accounted for. Like another man wrote in the paper, you could build new all new schools for that amount, and we were just getting one new elementary school!

Anonymous. Are you quoting the paper when you say we were getting one new elementary school? Because if so, okay. But if you are writing that, you are wrong. A new 4th grade wing was going to be added on. Not a new school. Here's what else we would have gotten.
High School
Approximately 90,000 Square feet
Addition of Secure Main Entrance/Office Area
New Media Center/library
New Cafeteria/Dining
New Science labs to meet state standards
Additional Gym/dressing rooms
Additional Parking
Renovation of Existing Restrooms

LH Rather Junior High/W. Evans Intermediate School
Approximately 85,000 Square Feet
New 5th and 6th grade Classrooms
Grades 5th through 8th grade shared common space
Science lab to meet STATE STANDARDS
New Media Center/Library
New band hall/choir/art/life skills
Additional gym/dressing rooms

Finley Oates
Approximately 33,000 square feet
new 4th grade wing
additional instructional space- Reading Intervention/Dyslexia/Music
expanded Cafeteria/dining space
new gymnasium
Removal of portable buildings

Possible Additional District Wide Projects
District Wide Re-roofing
Security Cameras at all Campuses
district wide HVAC upgrades

One new elementary school? Anonymous, where are you getting your information from? That is incorrect. It's obvious you, like many others didn't even take the time to find out what the money was really going towards. Truly sad.

I got it straight off the BISD website!!! It even had an aerial drawing of where the new IW Evans would've been. It was going to have a common space between it and LH Rather. It would be built where the junior high practice football field currently is.

So you need to tap the brakes and start reading for yourself. See, if that wasn't even presented to you, it just shows that the BISD is being ran like the Benny Hill Show. It was on their website, which they quickly took down right after the bond was defeated. Call the admin office and ask them about it if you don't believe me!

Just looked again, and it's taken down off the Huckabee website that had the drawings also.

And to those that keep saying kids are being taught in "closets" at Finley Oates, get real. I've had one just go through FO, and another one still in it, and neither of them ever have to be taught in a closet.

BISD needs to rethink and come up with something better to present to the voters, because it looks like to me it was an overwhelming NO vote.

Okay, boys, let me have it!

Perhaps you should read. Evans isn't an elementary school. Finley Oates is. HELLO!

The school board failed miserably in getting the information out to the voters. Don't EVEN start with the "you should have attended the meetings"....because that isn't possible for everyone.

Either the school board failed to get the information to the media, or the media failed to "serve the public good". My guess is...BOTH!

Curious wrote:

Perhaps you should read. Evans isn't an elementary school. Finley Oates is. HELLO!

Oh boy, you got me there! Ahem, intermediate school. Hell pass the bond now, it's intermediate and not elementary!!! Woooo-hoooo!

Pretty much anything below junior high is considered elementary though.