BISD plans to appeal order to stop South Park demolition

Forcing the Beaumont Independent School District to comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Jerry Jordan, editor for The Examiner, sought and received a temporary restraining order stopping the district from holding a board meeting last Thursday.

Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court, granted the TRO Thursday, Aug. 6, forcing BISD to reschedule and hold the meeting Monday, Aug. 10.

After the meeting, the district publicly announced it would appeal 58th District Judge Bob Wortham's ruling preventing BISD from razing South Park Middle School.

According to court documents, The Examiner received notice of the BISD meeting on Aug. 5, prompting Jordan and the newspaper to file a TRO application.

"The notice sent out by (BISD) was received by the local media less than 72 hours prior to the scheduled emergency school board meeting, in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act," the plaintiffs' request for a TRO states.

A courthouse employee told the Record since BISD complied with the rules the issue is "over."

On Aug. 3 Judge Wortham granted the Beaumont Heritage Society's and former South Park student Eddie Estilette's request for a temporary injunction, determining that there was enough evidence suggesting that voters may have been misled by the district in the 2007 bond election.

A hearing for a permanent injunction has been set for Sept. 21.

As of Aug. 11, there is no record of an appeal on file with the Texas Ninth Court of Appeals.