Coppell Chronicle Vol. 3, No. 37
Coppell Champions Silo Receives Makeover • New Set of Wayfinding Signs on Their Way • Winter Averaging Has Begun Again • Coppell ISD Student Body Expected to Shrink
As a lifelong Texas Rangers fan, I’m still in a euphoric state thanks to their first World Series championship. Speaking of states and championships …
Coppell Champions Silo Receives Makeover
The championships silo in Old Town Coppell received a refresh and a few updates this weekend, thanks to the persistence of one tough grandma.
“Know somebody who knows somebody,” Misty Salvie said, “and they’ll get you what you need.”
Salvie has two grandsons who are lacrosse players. The older one, who graduated from Coppell High School last spring, played the sport for 12 years. His little brother is still involved in the Coppell lacrosse program as a middle schooler.
A few months ago, Salvie began wondering why the Coppell boys lacrosse team’s state titles from 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2021 weren’t marked on the silo, which lists nine Coppell High School championships ranging from baseball in 1995 to boys soccer in 2016. As I learned two years ago when reporting the article linked below, Salvie discovered that the silo is controlled by the Main Street Coppell Property Owners Association.
(See “The Mark of a Championship” in Vol. 1, No. 17.)
She eventually made contact with Shawn Hester, who has been the property owners association’s president since the spring of 2022. Hester said his group was fine with updating the silo’s listings, as well as refreshing the paint that was in place long before the association became responsible for the silo. However, the property owners didn’t necessarily want to foot the bill.
So Salvie began tracking down the booster clubs for all of the programs that have won state titles. A plan was formulated for those clubs to split the costs of the work, which is being done by David Bearden, an art teacher at Coppell High School. Bearden spent most of Saturday refreshing the old paint. He was supposed to add the four lacrosse titles today, as well as the girls cross country team’s championship from 2018.
Melia Mitchell, president of the baseball booster club, stopped by with a check for Bearden on Saturday as Salvie and I watched him work.
“We come here to Local Diner all the time,” Mitchell said. “I thought, well, that will be great to see.”
When Salvie told me Bearden was going to denote a cross country championship from 2018, I thought that might be a mistake. When reporting my 2021 article about the silo, I took a picture of one of the championships signs at Coppell’s city limits that indicate the cross country title happened during the 2017-2018 school year.
Because cross country is a fall sport, I said to Salvie, shouldn’t the year on the silo be 2017? She whipped out her phone and found a Coppell Student Media article that confirms the Cowgirls ran their way to a state championship in 2018.
Salvie was not aware of my previous silo article when she began her efforts. I told her I reported that Coppell’s hockey team — which, like lacrosse, is not a UIL-sanctioned sport — might want to be included on the silo for titles won in 2003, 2020, and 2021, but she said nobody mentioned hockey to her as she tried to figure out which championships were missing.
“They need to contact all the same people I did,” she said, “because this was a chore.”
Well, with the way Coppell High School’s football season is going (read more in the Chronicle Crumbs), there might soon be an opportunity to further update the silo and also correct the mistake on the signs at the city limits.
“I think we’re going to be adding football,” Mitchell said. “They are killing it.”
New Set of Wayfinding Signs on Their Way
If you’ve ever asked a friend or relative from out of town to meet you at one of Coppell’s schools or parks, that visitor may have used some of our wayfinding signs to navigate through the city. Like the Old Town silo, those helpful signs are about to get a makeover.
Sixty of these signs were installed across Coppell starting in 2008, but many of them had faded by 2015. At that time, the city moved to more-robust enamel panels designed to reduce fading.
“However, these replacement sign panels could not be modified by staff due to the enamel face, leading to difficulties in installation,” Director of Public Works Mike Garza wrote in a memo to the City Council. “In addition, these sign panels were much heavier, leading to issues with weight distribution and support.”
In late September, the City Council approved a $91,246 contract with Arizona-based National Sign Plazas to replace the signs again. If you think that amount sounds like a lot, you should know it was the lowest of four bids the city received. One firm said the project would cost $211,000.
National Sign Plazas will use “engineering-grade UV-reflective sheeting” on the new signs, according to Garza’s memo. To minimize costs, the existing poles, frames, and foundations will be reused where they are in good shape, but some of those support elements will also be replaced.
Winter Averaging Has Begun Again
Despite the beautiful weather this weekend, we have entered the season of winter averaging.
Winter averaging is Coppell’s method of basing residents’ bills for sewer services on our average water use between November and March. The highest and lowest months in that period get tossed out, and the average for the remaining three months is what we get charged for the next 12 months. This method went into effect a year ago, after the City Council approved it in September 2022.
Back then, Director of Strategic Financial Engagement Kim Tiehen predicted 97 percent of customers would see either a $5 increase, no change, or a decrease. Put me in the latter group. I dug out my utility bills and noted that my sewer charge has been $30.24 every month since the bill I paid in May. On the previous six bills, my average sewer charge was $31.40. So I saved an average of $1.16 each month.
Unfortunately, the bulk of those savings are about to be eaten up by a $1 increase to the stormwater charge on our monthly bills. It’s going up this month to $5, a year after it went up to $4. This is the final hike in a series of annual increases that the council approved in March of 2020.
Coppell ISD Student Body Expected to Shrink
Coppell ISD’s enrollment is projected to drop from here on out.
“We may be at peak total enrollment right now,” demographer Bob Templeton told the Board of Trustees last month. “Last year, I thought it was two years away. Now, it could be that it’s here.”
Check out the five-year forecast that Templeton showed the trustees during their Oct. 23 meeting, as well as his key takeaways.
One of Templeton’s key takeaways was the low enrollment among kindergartners, a topic he has brought up during previous presentations. (See “Where Are All the Kindergartners?” in Vol. 2, No. 39.) Another one of those takeaways was that many Texas districts are experiencing enrollment declines in the younger grades.
“This is not specific to Coppell,” he said. “I will say what’s a little specific to Coppell is the high cost of housing.”
Templeton said Coppell is one of the most expensive markets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which presents some challenges for the city’s predominant school district.
“The family makeup tends to be older,” he said. “It tends to have fewer younger kids, so we don’t see that regeneration at the younger grade levels.”
Templeton said homeschooling is the biggest factor in public schools’ declining enrollment. Last July, he attended a homeschooling convention in Round Rock that he said attracted about 6,000 parents plus at least 150 vendors, “and they were selling their product right and left.”
The demographer talked to dozens of families at the convention for research purposes. He suspected that many of them had pulled their kids out of public schools due to the parents’ religious and/or right-wing ideology, and he said those suspicions were confirmed. But Templeton said he was surprised by how many millennial parents opted to homeschool their children for flexibility’s sake. These parents wanted to control the hours of the school day, the days of the school week, and when holidays or breaks would be observed.
“They wanted that ability to have more control and more flexibility because, in many cases, one of them was working remotely, and so there was some flexibility in where they worked,” Templeton said.
His presentation also included five-year enrollment projections for each of the district’s 11 elementary schools. He predicts that six of them — Canyon Ranch, Cottonwood Creek, Lakeside, Mockingbird, Town Center, and Wilson — will be below 75 percent of their capacity in the 2028-2029 school year.
Superintendent Brad Hunt said the numbers in that chart don’t tell the whole story. Each school has rooms dedicated to special education or STEAM or broadcast journalism that don’t have the same configuration as a traditional classroom with one teacher and 22 students.
“The capacity at elementary is often challenged a little bit by the special programs,” Hunt told the trustees. “Those numbers are always a little bit somewhat nebulous, because they can ebb and flow.”
Nobody overtly talked about closing a campus during this meeting, but the topic was on my mind, especially because one of the only people in the audience was Julie Waters, a former candidate for the Board of Trustees. During planning for Coppell ISD’s 2023 bond election, Waters assumed Pinkerton Elementary would be slated for closure, and she was vocally opposed to that idea.
Templeton hinted at the closure concept with this comment:
“In the end, it’s going to come down to an efficient use of the buildings,” he said, “and that is unfortunate, but it is the reality that we live in, with how we’re funded and how we operate.”
Chronicle Crumbs
• Coppell High School’s varsity football team wrapped up an undefeated regular season on Friday against the Plano Wildcats, whom they walloped by a score of 44-0. The District 6-6A champions’ average margin of victory in their seven district games was 33 points. The Cowboys will open the playoffs against Denton Guyer at 7 p.m. this Friday at Buddy Echols Field.
• Coppell High School’s varsity marching band finished eighth among the 43 Class 6A entrants in the UIL State Marching Band Championships on Tuesday. Austin Vandegrift was the winner, followed by Coppell’s district rivals from Marcus, Hebron, and Flower Mound. I’ve heard the Coppell band practice during many of my son’s freshman football games, but I’ve yet to watch them perform. I’m told they will take the field at halftime of the playoff game.
• This was in last week’s edition, but it bears repeating: The contractors working on DART’s Silver Line tracks plan to close Moore Road’s northbound lane near Belt Line Road on Wednesday and keep it that way through Dec. 11. When it reopens, they’ll then close the southbound lanes until Jan. 11. After that, the entire intersection will be closed for three days yet to be determined.
• Make a Child Smile, the City of Coppell’s annual gift drive benefiting kids in Coppell ISD, has begun. Wrapped presents are due by 5 p.m. on Dec. 1.
• A couple of months ago, I published an article called “Isolated Neighborhood Stuck in Fast Lane” that was inspired by remarks Prasad Choppa made at an Irving City Council meeting on Aug. 3. Choppa delivered a similar speech at the council’s Oct. 26 meeting. When he was through, City Manager Chris Hillman asked him to get with Irving Traffic and Transportation Director Dan Vedral, just as Hillman did after Choppa’s Aug. 3 appearance. Rinse, repeat.
• Way back in April of 2021, I wrote about plans to add more fun to the Fun Movie Grill in Valley Ranch. (See “Multiplex to Add Multiple Amusements” in Vol. 1, No. 7.) Since then, not much has happened there — fun or otherwise. But this week, Irving’s Planning and Zoning Commission and its City Council will both hold public hearings on proposals to increase the movie theaters’ capacity and to allow alcohol to be served throughout the entire building. The commission’s hearing will be on Monday, and the council’s hearing will be on Thursday.
• The agenda for Monday’s meeting of the Coppell Parks and Recreation Board includes this item: “Presentation and discussion relating to a request to designate a Coppell bird.” A Coppell bird? Does anybody have any suggestions? Given my penchant for labeling residents of our town as “Coppellicans,” you can probably guess my preference.
Community Calendar
Holiday Craft Market: Crafters from the Coppell Senior Center will have a variety of items available for purchase between 1 and 4 p.m. today at the Cozby Library and Community Commons. Cash is strongly encouraged because some vendors do not accept credit cards.
Making Waves: The Coppell Children’s Chorus’s annual fall show will begin at 3 p.m. today at the Coppell Arts Center.
Coppell Lacrosse Round Up: Boys and girls in kindergarten through eighth grade are invited to learn more about lacrosse between 3 and 5:30 p.m. today at the Coppell Middle School North stadium.
Fire Prevention Safety Show: The Coppell Fire Department Edutainment Troupe (formerly known as the CFD Clown Troupe) will perform at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the Coppell Arts Center.
Diwali Family Fun Night: The Festival of Lights will be celebrated via crafts, stories, and other activities between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Four Day Weekend: The acclaimed improv troupe will be back at the Coppell Arts Center for their monthly gig at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Get there early, because Emerald City will play a free show outside the Arts Center at 5:30 p.m., when food trucks will be parked nearby.
Document Shredding: Coppell residents can have their documents securely shredded and recycled between 8 a.m. and noon on Saturday at the Service Center at 816 S. Coppell Road.
Mixed Feelings: You have two chances to enjoy the Coppell Community Chorale’s annual fall concert at the Coppell Arts Center — 7 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Nov. 12.
Coppell Holiday House: The annual gift and craft show benefiting Project Graduation — a safe all-night party for the Class of 2024 — is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 12 at Coppell High School. More than 50 artisans are expected to hawk their wares.
Coppell Gifted Association: Brian Timm, CISD’s Director of Mathematics, will be one of the speakers at the meeting scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 13 in the Pinkerton Elementary School cafeteria.
Assistance League of Coppell: Jacaranda Gift Shop owner Sarah Carrick will share her store’s varied offerings during the meeting scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 in Room 236 at Valley Ranch Baptist Church. Gather to visit at 11:15. The new ornament featuring the Coppell Senior Center will be available for purchase, as will past years’ ornaments. Guests and new members are always welcome. Dutch-treat lunch following.
Gobble Wobble 5K and Fun Run: These races benefiting Coppell Animal Services are scheduled for 8 a.m. on Nov. 18 at Andrew Brown Park East.
I enjoyed this week’s updates. Thank you for keeping me informed!
Thank you for explaining "Project Graduation". I've lived here for 5 years and have heard the term every year, but never knew what it was.