CCISD recognizes retirees, approves new principal for S.C. Lee

By BRITTANY FHOLER 
Cove Leader-Press 

The Copperas Cove Independent School District board of trustees recognized the retirement of five employees, who between them have 154 years of experience, during their regular meeting held Tuesday evening. 
Shirley Bennett, the Benefits Specialist for the district, was recognized for her retirement after 32 years of service, all with CCISD. Sharon Cutbirth, the Special Education Coordinator for the district, was recognized for 30 years of service, 11 of which were with CCISD. Patsy Palmer, an instructional aide at Williams/Ledger Elementary, was recognized after 27 years of service, all with CCISD.  Cynthia Powell, a teacher at Clements/Parsons Elementary, was recognized after 36 years of service, 30 of which were with CCISD. Bonnie Terry, the Outreach Coordinator at Clements/Parsons Elementary, was recognized for 29 years of service, all with CCISD. 
Not present at the meeting were two employees, Paul Fellows III and Heidi Grace, who both suffered damage to their homes as a result of Sunday’s storm and will be recognized at the next board meeting, according to Superintendent Dr. Joe Burns. 
The board also approved a contract for $32,000 with People First Education Consulting for Special Education Consulting Services. Judy Moon, with People First, will use expand the district’s capacity to “streamline and facilitate the referral process for special education evaluation and service delivery, train and coach leaders, faculty and staff in appropriate and efficient Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) meeting procedures, and modify and expand the district’s use of eStar to improve data distribution, analysis and outcomes for students,” according to the agenda packet on the district’s website. 
The board approved a $108,000 contract for Special Education speech language pathology services with CoreMedical Group, which will provide therapy, supervision evaluation and services to students in the district. 
The board accepted a donation of $9,540 from the House Creek PTA for the purchase 18 Dell Latitude laptops and a donation of $3,534 from the CCHS DECA Parent Group for the CCHS CTE Travel Funds to be used for travel. 
Included in the consent agenda were three budget amendments to Hettie Halstead Elementary School’s budget, Williams/Ledger Elementary School’s budget and the CCHS Band budget to move a total of $4,853 around. 
Also included in the consent agenda was a list of 54 new hires, which included the transferring of some faculty members, like Brian Jost, who moved from being principal at Hettie Halstead Elementary to becoming the new principal at S.C. Lee Junior High for the 2019-2020 school year. 
Burns also recognized the hiring of Rhonda Burnell as the district’s new Director of School Counseling. 
“We looked long and hard in an effort that’s a culmination of about two years of work trying to put together a social, emotional and mental health wellness program for our students,” Burns said. “And I want to say that our patience has paid off. We feel like we have gotten the cream of crop to help lead that program.”
The board took action on the CCISD Credit by Exam (CBE) and the Exam for Acceleration (EA) list of tests for both acceleration and/or credit recovery purposes, updating the testing window calendar to reflect what the new school year will be.  
The testing window for the 2019-2020 school year will be July 15-19, 2019, with an application deadline of June 21, 2019; November 5-8, 2019, with an application deadline of October 1, 2019; February 25-28, 2020 with an application deadline of January 17, 2020; and June 1-5, 2020 with an application deadline of May 1, 2020. 
The board of trustees also approved a job order contractor as the procurement method for two projects at Copperas Cove High School and the two junior highs. 
For the project at the high school, the contract price cannot exceed $75,000 for the expansion of the main hall at Copperas Cove High School. The hallways from the small commons area to the 300 wings have been a “choke point for efficient movement of students during passing periods,” according to the district. After a meeting with the district’s architect and structural engineer, it was determined that the hallways can be expanded an additional eight to 10 feet by demolishing a portion of the 300 Hallway wall, the teacher lounge and the small snack bar, which will provide a smoother traffic flow and alleviate congestion in the walkway. 
For the junior highs, the contract price cannot exceed $140,000 for concrete slab and wrought-iron fencing at S.C. Lee and just wrought-iron fencing at Copperas Cove Junior High to enclose the rear of the cafeteria and add additional outdoor seating for students.
“This is a project that we’ve undertaken at the request of campus principals in order to help expand their lunch eating areas,” Burns said.  
The boards approved legal services contracts to retain the services of two law firms: Powell, Youngblood & Taylor, LLP and Walsh, Gallegos, Treviño, Russo & Kyle P.C. for a total cost to the district of $1,500.
The board also approved an agreement with the Killeen Regional Day School Program for the Deaf Shared Services Arrangement. 
Killeen ISD, Copperas Cove ISD and Lampasas ISD agree to cooperatively operate their special education programs for students with auditory impairments through a shared services agreement known as the Killeen Regional Day School Program for the Deaf Shared Services Arrangement (Killeen RDSPD SSA). Killeen ISD will serve as the fiscal agent, and member district per-pupil tuition calculations are based on the expenditures that exceed the total state and federal allocations for these students.
The board approved an agreement for the joint use of CCJHS with the Boys and Girls Club of Copperas Cove for their summer program June 3 through August 9. 
The board of trustees also approved the annual contract with Communities in Schools of Greater Central Texas for the 2019-2020 school year to provide services to all campuses, with the exception of the Mae Stevens Pre-K campus. The contract amount of $410,802 is an increase of $9,590 compared to the 2018-2019 contract, but the district only pay 45 percent of the total contract cost, which is $184,861, making the actual increase to CCISD just $4,316.
The board approved 2019-2020 Impact Aid travel dates for conferences related to Impact Aid related meetings and events to include the NAFIS Fall Conference September 22 through 24 in Washington, D.C.; the OASIS Conference in December 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the TAFIS Board Meeting in December 2019, hosted by CCISD; and the NAFIS Spring Conference in March 2020 in Washington, D.C.
The total estimated cost is $31,980.