CCISD Board of Trustees named Regional Honor Board

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press 

There are 76 school districts in Education Service Center Region 12, which spans 12 of the 254 counites in the state of Texas, and the Copperas Cove Independent School District Board of Trustees has been named as one of eight regional honor boards by the Texas Association of School Administrators. The announcement comes after the CCISD school board was announced as the Education ServicesCenter Region 12’s School Board of the Year by the Texas Association of School Administrators. 
“We commend the CCISD school board for its outstanding leadership and dedication to providing a quality education for every student in its district,” said Jerry Maze, Ed.D., executive director of ESC Region 12. “We are proud to recognize these public servants for their commitment to their students, staff and community.”
“During my 26 years in public education, I’ve never worked for a finer group of individuals whose genuine love and concern for students is continuously at the forefront of all decisions,” said Joe Burns, superintendent of Copperas Cove ISD. “Their dedication and support for each other, for me and the students, staff and community of Copperas Cove are unwavering.”
The other boards to be recognized as Regional Honor Boards are Beeville ISD, Premont ISD, Bridge City ISD, Denton ISD, Giddings ISD, Canyon ISD, and Boerne ISD.
The CCISD school board received kudos for working cohesively with the superintendent to prepare and adopt a Vision 2021 Strategic Plan. In the area of Teaching & Learning, the plan includes a redesign of the secondary campuses to improve instruction through teacher collaboration, purposeful planning and analysis of student work. 
The plan also outlines strategies for expanding professional learning opportunities and implementing a social and emotional learning program that promotes the development of the whole child. This type of program raises awareness of the connection between emotional wellness and academic achievement.
Under human resources and facilities, the plan aims to explore additional avenues to attract high quality, diverse staff, develop and to develop or strengthen mentor and support programs for all departments to meet the needs of all employees. Leadership also plans to develop a master building plan that addresses innovation, safety, capacity and efficiency.
While district writing and reading scores have traditionally exceeded the state average, the board embraced the administration’s recommendation to adopt Balanced Literacy as the district’s framework to teach literacy. 
The board has always provided strong support for college and career readiness programs, with the district offering an Early College Program and dual credit classes. These offerings helped students to earn a combined total of 688 college hours and 1,281 dual credits.
Additional recent district and campus recognitions include the passage of a Tax Ratification Election by nearly a 3:1 margin and completing more than $6 million of construction and renovations to district facilities.
In 2011, the board was also named one of five honor boards in the state of Texas and was in the running to be named the state’s outstanding school board.