By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Feb. 3 to approve Superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins’ contract two weeks after unanimously voting to extend it during their Jan. 20 meeting.
The Feb, 3 vote passed 5-2, marking a shift from the board’s earlier 7-0 decision. District Communications Director Kurtis Quillin clarified that although trustees voted January 20 to extend Hawkins’ contract following his evaluation, no contract was executed at that time in response to a request for a copy of the contract approved at the January 20 meeting.
The agreement approved February 3 raises Hawkins’ annual salary to $273,000 and extends his employment through the 2031 school year.
Hawkins was originally hired in January 2025 with an annual salary of $241,255 and a contract term through January 2028.
During the Jan. 20 special meeting, trustees entered into a closed session to discuss Hawkins’ evaluation and contract. Upon reconvening in open session, board member Sherry Hoffpauir made a motion to approve the contract and extend the term to 2031 “for a term and compensation as outlined in the approved contract.” Board member Tim Traeger seconded the motion, and the board approved it unanimously.
Board President Joan Manning responded Tuesday evening to a request for comment regarding the extension and compensation.
“Our board is excited to have Dr. Hawkins as the Superintendent of Copperas Cove and as the leader of our school district,” Manning said. “After his evaluation on January 20, our board extended his contract through the 2031 school year. Following research of salary comparisons of similarly sized districts, including information from the Texas Education Agency, we acted to improve his overall compensation structure.”
According to the Superintendent Survey released by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), the median superintendent salary for 2025-2026 is $156,818. Median salaries for superintendents range from $120,000 in districts with fewer than 500 students to $367,303 in districts with 50,000 or more students. For districts like Copperas Cove ISD, which has more than 8,000 students, the average superintendent salary for 2025-2026 is $262,432, while the median salary for a superintendent of a district with 5,000 to 9,999 students is $261,500, according to the TASB survey.
At the Feb. 3 meeting, trustees again entered closed session to discuss the superintendent’s contract.
When the board returned to open session, the vote shifted to 5-2 to approve the contract as it was written, with trustees Jeff Gorres and John Gallen voting against the item, but the action item was approved.
In a phone interview, Gorres said his vote was not a reflection on Hawkins.
“To be honest with you, I have no idea why it was brought back up,” Gorres said, referring to the item appearing on the agenda a second time. “My disagreement has absolutely no reflection on Dr. Hawkins. I highly advocated for him, aggressively advocated for him.”
Gorres said he visited Hawkins’ former district and community of Livingston and spoke with those who knew him professionally and personally.
“His record speaks for itself,” Gorres said. “He has really 180 degrees turned around this district in all sorts of metrics. Biggest one I think is the community engagement- Bulldawg Pride: one pack, one purpose. You start talking to folks out there, talking about the schools, there’s a lot of community pride. I fully support him in many of his endeavors. He is very focused on what’s best in achieving the aspirations of our kiddos, and I salute him all day for that.”
Gorres said his opposition centered on timing and district priorities.
“Last July, it was identified that we have a pretty disparaging disparity in our pay band scales across the district- almost a 12 percent difference between administrative and everybody else,” Gorres said. “As a trustee, I can’t support a pay increase for one when we’re not going to consider all.”
Boardmember John Gallen also said his vote was procedural rather than personal. He said that the fact that the vote was divided did not mean the board was divided or that the board did not support the superintendent or the school district.
“It was a 5-2 vote. It passed, and regardless of which side you were on, we support the decision,” Gallen said. “We voted on that thing once and thought everything was copacetic. It passed, and we thought we were good to go, and it was brought back. My no vote was a procedural thing basically because I thought that we were just done with it.”
Gallen emphasized that his vote was not a vote of no confidence.
“I support the superintendent 100 percent,” Gallen said. “He has done fantastic things for our district and will continue to do so.”
The superintendent’s contract can be viewed on the district’s website at https://www.ccisd.com/page/required-postings.
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