By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
For the second time in two years, voters within the Copperas Cove Independent School District boundaries will see a bond on an election ballot.
This time around, the bond has been split into three separate propositions which voters will decide.
Proposition 1 totals a little more than $142 million and would fund renovations at Copperas Cove High School, Fairview-Jewell Elementary, and Copperas Cove Junior High School.
Superintendent Brent Hawkins said that the buzz by some on social media is that this is the “same bond.” He said that sentiment is incorrect.
“There are some of the same needs. The cafeteria is a need that is being addressed differently. It’s not being moved from one side of the campus to the other. It is staying in place. The plan makes it the size and capacity that it needs to serve the kids. So there’s one difference right out of the gate,” Hawkins said.
“The high school is the greatest area of need,” he added. “You’ve got to applaud the committee, because going into the committee, everybody brought their own solution to the table, but at the end, everybody came to the most fiscally responsible path forward – the path that the committee overwhelmingly chose.”
He said that the committee came to the consensus, even those from different backgrounds and viewpoints brought to the table.
“I asked the architects, and we walked through that. You have a new superintendent, a new architect firm, and a new construction firm,” Hawkins said. “None of the three people in that triangle have any bias.”
As far as why no new high school, Hawkins said that in addition to the district not having the buying capacity, there are other factors. The district would need a minimum of 50 acres for another high school as well as the utilities for that facility. The idea of a ninth-grade center, which had been suggested by some, was also not a good option.
The proposition also takes into consideration the needs of Copperas Cove students, and not all district’s high school programs offer the same things, Hawkins said. He pointed to the example of school districts near the coast offering CTE programs for students to enter the petroleum industry. In Copperas Cove, nearly two-thirds of the high school students want to study a trade or certification rather than go to a traditional college or university program.
“Copperas Cove High School has a lot of programs. Every district doesn’t offer the robotics program that we offer. They don’t offer the cosmetology program that we offer. Within our district, we have a different footprint and different need. We have a space requirement in order to do that. Whenever we saw that the ability to build a new high school was out of our limitations, then we started to go back and look at what other options do we have?
“The people who have ninth grade centers are forced to have ninth grade centers. The research says the worst thing that you can do over a kid’s experience is to break their transitions. Between fifth and sixth grade, you break. Kids struggle. We have 49 percent of the kids in the school district that are military connected, and we get impact aid.”
He said the impact aid come because of transitions that students face by moving.
“The millions of dollars that the kids of Cove have gotten over the years have been to ensure that they are stretching the envelope to minimize transitions in those kids’ lives. It’s hard for a kid to move every two years. Why would we turn around and create another transition and have a ninth-grade center? It goes against all of the research in education.”
He also said that there would be a redundancy by having another campus, in addition to costs for teachers, duplicated programs such as for band and athletics, if there as an additional secondary-level campus.
At Copperas Cove High School, $107 million from Proposition 1 would fund roughly 152,000 square feet of classroom renovations, upgrades to 50,000 square feet of interior space, a cafeteria expansion to seat 900-plus students, a Career & Technology Education (CTE) center at 74,636 square feet with student storefronts, and upgrades to the library. Hawkins said that the storefronts will be open to the public, such as the café and salon.
Fairview-Jewell Elementary would see nearly $22 million in upgrades, to include building renovations with all restrooms to be made accessible, classroom additions from existing spaces, and relocating Specialties and the cafeteria. The cafeteria will be centrally located.
Copperas Cove Junior High School would see a little more than $13 million in renovations, among which includes a cafeteria expansion with new restrooms, along with building renovations, corridor upgrades, and classroom finish upgrades.
This is Part one of a 3-part article series that looks into the details of the 2025 bond package that will be on the Nov. 4, 2025 election ballot.
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