The Beaumont ISD Board of Trustees had an emergency meeting July 11 to authorize Superintendent Dr. Shannon Allen to approve disaster-related spending, bypassing traditional procurement methods, following severe damages at Vincent Middle School caused by Hurricane Beryl.
Only five of the seven board members were present at the meeting. Vice President Stacey Lewis Jr. and Trustee Robert C. Dunn Sr. were absent.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a Disaster Declaration including Jefferson County on July 6, two days before the Hurricane Beryl’s landfall. Jefferson County was declared a federal disaster area on July 9, after the storm left tens of thousands of Southeast Texas residents with damages and without power. Among the local damage was Vincent Middle School, which received severe damages causing the loss of power and infrastructure.
According to BISD Director of Maintenance and Operations Allen DeVault, Entergy has to set up a new transformer in order to get power restored at the school. Once the transformer is set, the electrician will come in and set new conduit and wiring, and bring the facility to code.
“Using the normal procurement process, we would be looking at two months to complete this process, and would not be able to restore power before the return of school,” said DeVault. “Working with our partners at Jefferson Electric and Entergy, the process can be done simultaneously and we’d be looking at a pretty aggressive four-week timeline if everything goes perfectly. But we think that we are pretty well set up to be able to have power back on by Aug. 2.”
DeVault said starting July 22, the plan is to bring in generators and fuel tanks to be able to have power so that janitorial can get started and then welcome the teachers on Friday, Aug. 2.
Electrical services were estimated at $200,000 according to Jefferson Electric Co. Project Manager and Estimator Tyler Ancelet.
The cost of generators and fuel could be as much as $100,000, according to DeVault.
An inquiry by Trustee Woodrow Reece II as to whether federal disaster money would be available to cover the expense, to which it was stated that the district fully intended on submitting the cost in hopes of recouping the money, but that there are several factors that going into whether the district receives disaster funding.
Additionally, BISD’s insurance policy was mentioned; however, it was stated that with a deductible of $500,000, using the insurance would not be beneficial.