By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove Independent School District held the second of three Walk and Talk events for members of the community to visit the different campuses and speak with district officials and ask questions regarding the upcoming proposed bond election.
The second event was held at Copperas Cove High School, in Gym 2, or the old gym as it’s also referred to, with TVs set up around the gym and representatives from the district available to discuss each portion of the three propositions that voters will decide on next month during the November 4 election.
The $165.7 million bond is made up of three Propositions: Proposition A, Proposition B, and Proposition C.
Proposition A ($142.3 million) includes renovations and expansions to Fairview-Miss Jewell Elementary School, Copperas Cove Junior High School and Copperas Cove High School. The renovations to Copperas Cove High School would take $107.3 million of that $142.3 million amount, focusing on replacing aging infrastructure, expanding the cafeteria to hold 400 more students (approximately 1,000 students total), and increasing instructional spaces, including labs, classrooms and collaborative areas through the addition of 55 new classrooms and expansion of certain areas of the school, which also includes the career and technical education (CTE) spaces to ensure each program has space to meet industry standards.
CCHS Principal Carlin Grammer was one of the district representatives available during Monday’s event to answer questions. Grammer was hired as the principal for Copperas Cove High School in 2024.
“What we're dealing with is adding classrooms over here, and in modernizing our classrooms, the ones that we have and updating them, getting them back up to where they should be for today's learning,” Grammer said about Proposition A. “Also, we're short classrooms. We have floating teachers right now that don't have a classroom, so the idea would add 55 classrooms to this spot, which would be great, and expands our capacity a little bit. Then also, we have, again, just general improvements, and then we have the cafeteria, which is undersized. So, the idea is to expand that.”
Grammer said that currently CCHS has around 2,300 students who have to eat their lunch during three total lunch periods. Currently, with the three lunch periods, it comes to about 700 or so students per lunch.
CCISD Child Nutrition Director Melissa Bryan said that students really only have about 12 seconds to get through the line in order to get every student through the line in the time allowed.
Grammer also said that the bond focuses on the CTE program and expanding and renovating the classrooms and facilities available for those students.
“We have a really robust CTE program here, and we want to provide great facilities for our students to be able to be career and college ready when they get out of here, and so that's a big deal for us right there,” Grammer said. “It would allow us, our students, to actually even sell their products to the community for a flower shop, pet grooming, food services, spirit shop, those kinds of things, and so we'd allow them to do that so they can actually get that experience.”
Proposition B ($12.2 million) focuses on expanding the Band Hall and Fine Arts building, as well as adding an expansion to the athletic annex to provide an expanded weight room and appropriate locker rooms for all student athletes.
On a walking tour led by Dr. Jimmy Shuck, who is currently the Deputy Superintendent for Operations and Support and served as the principal at CCHS from 2019 to 2024, community members got a firsthand look at the state of the locker rooms and facilities currently utilized by the baseball team, the soccer team, the wrestling team, the Copperettes, CCHS JROTC, and more.
Shuck said that as the programs have grown, the facilities have not kept up with that growth, and the facilities these student groups are using are crowded and packed and limited in terms of restrooms available and showers available. Shuck also pointed out throughout the tour of the high school that the campus is utilizing every bit of space it has for storage and for meeting spaces, such as the room used for various after school clubs that also stores extra TVs and desks. Shuck also pointed out cubicles that have been set up in the hallways to provide office space for staff, such as the campus’ MFLAC counselor.
In the Fine Arts building, the Choir room is full of risers and chairs as the choir has grown, with the first period choir having as many as 80 students. The spaces that have previously been used as practice rooms are now used for storage as well.
The Band Hall is also stuffed to the brim when students are inside practicing, from backpacks to instruments and props taking up much needed floor space.
Proposition C ($11.2 million), which deals with an open-air covered pavilion and artificial turf installation, was the final item Grammer touched on.
Grammer said that this part of the bond is important for not just athletics but band and cheer and the Copperettes as well.
This would be a practice field, shaded by a cover in order to protect students from the extreme heat. Band students currently practice for marching band season on the pavement of the high school parking lot next to the band hall, which is uneven and slopes. Due to UIL rules for student safety, when the temperature is too high, the band has to stop practice. With a covered pavilion, the band would be able to keep practicing.
“What I can tell you is this bond is not about extravagance at all,” Grammer said. “It's about appropriate facilities for our kids. Honestly, I mean, that's it. We're not doing anything elaborate. We're doing a quality product that gets our kids into the kind of facilities they deserve to be in.”
Jennifer Cotter served on the committee for the first bond, which was a single proposition for $175 million that failed to pass in 2024, and again on the committee for the current bond propositions.
Cotter has two children who attend CCISD schools and is a community partner through the Copperas Cove H-E-B Plus! She said that when she was part of the original committee, the committee walked through the different schools and saw just what the needs were.
“It was kind of eye opening, actually, walking it and seeing the things that needed to be done, especially the hallways in the high school and the cafeteria - the biggest thing,” Cotter said.
She said that when she was asked to come back for the second committee, she was all in.
“It's my passion to be a great community and a partner supporter, to support this bond 100 percent, and it's for the kids, and anything for the kids that makes sense, I'm gonna get behind,” Cotter said.
Cotter said her son, who is a junior at CCHS, is a soccer player.
“Last year, he practiced on the fields right outside, and it’s difficult to practice on a field that isn’t equipped with the stuff that they need. They’re constantly chasing soccer balls down the hill. It’s not flat. Injuries can happen in a matter of seconds, if they jump and fall into a pothole or anything like that,” Cotter said. She added that her daughter is in junior high and wants to play soccer and volleyball, and the locker rooms pose the biggest challenge.
“I want somewhere safe where she can go change, get ready for a game and be confident that she has a place where her personal belongings and stuff could go too,” Cotter said.
Cotter encouraged people to get the facts on the bond proposition.
“They’re here. We’re willing to give them, just come and get them. Ask somebody before you just make an assumption,” she said.
The third and final bond Walk and Talk event will be held Monday, October 6, in the Copperas Cove Junior High cafeteria, starting at 6 p.m. Those interested in attending are encouraged to enter through the front of the campus located at 702 Joe Lombardi Way.
The last day to register to vote is Monday, October 6. Early voting starts October 20, 2025 at 8 a.m. at the Copperas Cove Early Voting Center at 809 S. Main Street in Copperas Cove. Election Day is November 4, 2025, with voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at all polling locations in Copperas Cove: Copperas Cove Civic Center, Holy Family Catholic Church or Eastside Baptist Church.
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