bisd

BISD super says he’d rather concentrate on students

Beaumont Independent School District Superintendent Timothy Chargois repeatedly called on the Board of Trustees to focus its attention on student success during the group’s most recent meeting held Nov. 8, but taxpayers are urging the elected leaders to investigate allegations of race-baiting and theft occurring on district grounds and facilitated by public funding.

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BISD board forgoes Walker funds

Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) trustees voted 4-2 to forego any right to roughly $2 million forfeited by district electrical contractor Calvin Walker, who admitted to falsifying invoices submitted to the school district for payment. The decision to not seek the funds came Oct. 18, a day after an attempt by BISD board president Woodrow Reece and Melody Chappell to claim attorney’s fees from the Walker money was denied by a federal court.

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BISD’s candidate coin-flip to bypass voters

The Texas Attorney General has been asked to decide whether Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) trustees can legally appoint a currently-seated minority member to an additional two-year term, bypassing a public vote. The appointment would be the result of a lottery between trustees Zenobia Bush and Terry Williams, whose terms are scheduled to end in 2015. The “loser” would fill a newly districted at-large trustee seat starting in 2013 and ending in 2017.

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BISD's opening motion for Walker money rejected

A U.S. federal court has rejected a motion from Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) attorney Melody Chappell seeking recovery of attorney fees, along with other fees, that the district incurred when asked to provide testimony and documentation in the case of the United States v. Calvin Walker of Walker’s Electric Company, the district’s electrical contractor of record.

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BISD revisits surrendered funds pursuit

Calvin Walker

At least two governmental agencies are looking at ways to collect money from Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) electrical contractor of record, Walker’s Electric Company, including BISD and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

Show me the money

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District regroups amid Adult Cosmetology fiasco

Announcements that BISD is re-opening the Adult Cosmetology program might have been premature now that the district has hit a snag in licensing the program to be administered through the Beaumont Independent School District Continuing Education department. The district’s original Adult Cosmetology program, held at the Taylor Career and Technology Center for more than a decade, was closed abruptly Sept. 13 after classes had already resumed for the fall semester.

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BISD document hunt: Week 3 produces (some) results

Sept. 12, 2012, The Examiner started an investigation into the closing of the Beaumont Independent School District’s Adult Cosmetology night class program, which had been offered for more than a decade at the district’s Taylor Career and Technology Center. The program was canceled abruptly the evening of Sept.

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Hello and goodbye from two leaders in education

Jimmy Simmons and Carrol Thomas

 

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Walker contract extended with BISD

Calvin Walker is a lousy bookkeeper.

That was the sentiment shared by Beaumont Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Carrol Thomas on Thursday night, July 26, after the Board of Trustees voted 4-2 to extend the district’s electrical contract with the 51-year-old Walker for another year.

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Is BISD’s Superintendent Thomas leaving?

Each year, as the time comes to conduct the annual performance review of Beaumont Independent School District Superintendent Carrol Thomas, there are rumors it will be his last year in the district. But this year the rumors are much louder, and there’s a twist – Thomas is supposedly shopping a $1 million contract buyout.

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