By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
As of Monday, the clock started ticking for the Copperas Cove Independent School District to place a bond on the Nov. 4, 2025 election ballot.
During the CCISD board of trustees workshop on Monday, the board heard from Superintendent Brent Hawkins as well as three facilities committee members about the committees’ findings.
Additionally, Hawkins told the board that altogether, based on the Texas Association of School Boards’ assessment of district facilities, there was a total of $400 million in recommendations made by the outside third party.
“That’s $400 million worth of facility recommendations, renovations or things that are on the burner that need to be addressed. Now, some of that stuff is nice, but I’ve used the example of tires on your car. Some of us drive the tires on our car until we see the steel, and then we get our tires changed. I’m guilty,” Hawkins told the board. “So there are some things that we can do in that regard, but nonetheless, first and foremost is financially, you don’t have the bonding capacity to address all of that.”
Hawkins said that a long-term facility plan would prioritize and look at projects to stretch the dollar as far as it can go.
He told the board that during the month of May, the facilities committee, which was formed in the fall of 2024, met four times, evaluated facilities, and noted that many are over 50 years old.
The committee started with about 80 members who accepted the invitation, but was down to about 45-50 members. Approximately 20 percent were members who were on the prior committee, said J.C. Stubbs, who served on both committees and along with fellow members Leah Elmore and Jennifer Cotter, addressed the board with their comments on facilities.
“This process that we’ve gone through this time has been thorough. We’ve studied the information, looked at what’s needed. We’ve ranked it in two different ways, ranking it from one, just what do we think we can get done? And then we looked at it from the financial side of things too, not just what do we want to get done, but what can we afford to do? And we’ve ranked it that way as well,” Stubbs said.
“We’re not done yet. I think we’re meeting again in July, so we’re still planning to work. This has not been a rushed process. We’ve had hard conversations and long evenings of deciding what’s best for the kids, and so my full faith and support is behind this.”
Elmore toured the campuses as part of the “Golden Dawgs” tour and pointed to the high school’s facilities, giving the culinary area as an example.
“Their area looked like the concession stand kitchen, with the stoves that I used in Home Ec, making brownies. I graduated high school in ’82. That’s how old they are. No ventilation,” Elmore said. ‘We have a barbecue club, right? They went to a state tournament, right? They have nowhere to really do anything, because we don’t have the facilities for them.”
Hawkins noted that the tour did not include the crowded cafeteria at the high school, and if the district is going to be the district of choice, the high school cafeteria needs to be a priority.
The committee’s presentation included prioritized projects based on student needs and financial feasibility, ranking them for cost-effectiveness.
Among the top-ranked projects were addressing high school facility improvements and expansion needs, safety and security upgrades at all campuses; repair or replace major systems as needed at all campuses such as HVAC, roofs, foundations, plumbing, electrical; Copperas Cove Junior High School renovations and classroom additions; and addressing major renovations at Fairview/Miss Jewell Elementary.
There was much discussion on using approximately $15-17 million of CCISD’s uncommitted fund balance to address immediate needs, while also considering long-term goals and community feedback.
Hawkins told the board that there will also be community surveys to get more input from the community.
Trustee Jeff Gorres called for discussing use of uncommitted fund balance sooner rather than later.
“Coming out of bond last year, we had some discussions. We have fund balance, and why don’t we execute the uncommitted fund balance right now? To execute projects today…and put it on the next board meeting,” Gorres said, and other board members concurred.
Hawkins talked about what to consider when using those funds.
“Do you want to take that money and use some of it now, all of it now, or wait to address the whole project and what the bond may or may not be able to do to address enrichment types?” he said. “So there’s two or three different projects, or two or three different ideas that I think we probably need to spend some time, one on one, discussing through to make sure that that’s the plan that you want as trustees to move forward.”
The board will be provided with more information on the undesignated fund balance and options for using those funds for immediate facility projects. These funded projects would not be included in any upcoming bond, of course.
The committee will be finalizing its recommendations and present them to the school board in July.
Architects are working to find the most cost-effective solutions for each facility, such as the high school cafeteria and CTE classrooms. The architects will also develop plans and cost estimates for the elementary campus projects that can be funded with the uncommitted fund balance.
It was also noted that inflation has significantly reduced the district’s bond capacity by $20 million since the May 2024 bond.
Trustee Sherry Hoffpauir reminded the board of the atmosphere in the community.
“There’s already talk out there about a bond issue coming back up again,” she said. “And so the two questions that people want to know is, what we’re going to do with the money and how much it’s going to cost them.”
Leah Elmore echoed her comments.
“A lot of the people who complain don’t even have children in the district, but they want to know what’s in it for them. And that’s where I think the whole marketing of the bond would help. I think a whole new marketing campaign might be helpful in getting it passed. Also, a lot of people didn’t even vote…there was an assumption that it would,” Elmore said. “I do believe a lot more people will go vote who did not vote last time.”
The district has until Aug. 18 to call for an election.
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