Coppell Chronicle Vol. 2, No. 16

Teachers Should Expect 4 Percent Raises • Trustee Has Concerns About Privacy • Pylon Signs Move Closer to Approval • Short-Term Rental Permit Was Short-Lived

If you run into anyone this week who says they don’t know what to get their dad or husband for Father’s Day, I have a suggestion:

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Teachers Should Expect 4 Percent Raises

Coppell ISD teachers have received 2 percent raises for the last couple of years, but it looks like this year’s raise will be twice as much.

The Board of Trustees will formally vote on the district’s compensation plan on June 27. During a workshop on Monday, Chief Financial Officer Diana Sircar told the trustees that — based on their feedback — she would prepare a plan that calls for 4 percent raises across the board.

“In light of the fact that we’ve done 2 percent for these last several years,” Trustee Leigh Walker said, “and we’ve asked more than we probably ever have from our educators and staff, I think 4 percent is definitely where our conversation should be — to keep us competitive, period, but also because I think it’s the right thing to do.”

That 4 percent will be based on the midpoint for each salary grade, rather than 4 percent of each individual’s salary. Sircar said such a move will increase the district’s total payroll (and deficit) by $867,000, as shown on this slide:

Sircar pointed out — both verbally and on the slide — that all of her budget estimates are based on conservative assumptions, such as 100 percent employment and the district providing health care to all employees. In truth, there are always open unpaid positions, and only about 75 percent of CISD employees take advantage of its health care benefits, so the actual hit will be less than $867,000.

Whatever the final number is, it will be covered by the district’s fund balance. In response to a question from Trustee Nichole Bentley, Sircar said the fund balance is about $73 million — a number that she described as “healthy.” Sircar told the trustees that it’s important for CISD to maintain a fund balance that size because it covers payroll until tax dollars start flowing into the district’s coffers in January.

Trustee Tracy Fisher said the Legislature is eyeing Coppell ISD’s fund balance, and Superintendent Brad Hunt said, “It’s a good way to spend it.” Fisher then added, “A bank is a good thing, and reinvesting and all that, but really this is a time where we need to be doing all we can to take care of our employees.”

Trustee Anthony Hill asked what kinds of raises nearby districts are offering. Sircar and Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Kristen Eichel responded with these numbers:

• Highland Park ISD and Richardson ISD: 5 percent

• Lewisville ISD: 4 percent

• Frisco ISD: 4 percent for teachers, 3.25 percent for others

• Plano ISD: 4 percent for teachers, 3 percent for others

• Allen ISD, Denton ISD, and Northwest ISD: 3 percent

• Irving ISD: 2 percent

The compensation plan will also include $350 per month in contributions to employees’ health care, which is $25 more than the district currently provides. Sircar showed this slide that detailed neighboring districts’ health care contributions as of April:

The trustees debated whether that proposed $25 hike would make much of a difference, but Board President David Caviness said every little bit would help keep Coppell ISD competitive with other districts and hopefully prevent more teachers from leaving the industry.

“The environment we’re in, just the inflationary pressures everyone’s seeing, the more we can help our employees — I think — the better,” he said.

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Trustee Has Concerns About Privacy

This month, all Coppell ISD parents will be invited to complete a confidential survey conducted by Gibson Consulting Group. The compiled data will be part of the district’s ongoing visioning work and will help inform what sorts of facilities and programs end up in the bond package that we can expect to see on our ballots next May.

The district’s webpage about that survey includes this disclaimer: “While Gibson will use your email address to contact you, your email address will be dropped from the analytic file. In addition, Coppell ISD will not receive the actual data file, only reports of aggregate-level results.”

Despite those assurances, Trustee Neena Biswas does not like the idea of Gibson having access to parents’ email addresses. During Monday’s board workshop, she repeatedly asked why the district had given such information to a vendor.

Executive Director of Communications and Community Engagement Angela Brown and Superintendent Brad Hunt tried to explain that the use of a third party assures confidentiality, but Biswas wasn’t having it.

“Why should they know about who the parents are from our district?” she asked. “Why are they collecting the data? Why can’t we do this from our own district?”

Chief Operating Officer Dennis Womack, Board President David Caviness, and Trustee Tracy Fisher all tried to quell Biswas’ concerns. Eventually, Cindy Powell — a representative from a consulting firm called Cooperative Strategies, who had addressed the board earlier in the workshop — came back to the table to vouch for Gibson. Powell said she’d worked with the firm when she was Arlington ISD’s Chief Financial Officer.

“The quality of data you will receive from them is top-notch — very, very detailed and very statistically sound,” Powell said. “And so that’s part of why they control the populations of who the surveys are going to.”

Gibson has not yet contacted me via email, but after all of that buildup, I can’t wait to dive in to the survey.

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Pylon Signs Move Closer to Approval

Back in January, I wrote an article about a proposal to allow pylon signs in shopping centers along highways. Last month, the Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission finally recommended approval of a modified proposal.

As drafted, the proposal would allow for pylon signs to be no more than 40 feet tall. They could not be erected within 200 feet of any residence. If such a sign were illuminated, the light could not be more than 0.25 foot candles at an adjacent residential property line. Those restrictions were included to protect residents of the Coppell Greens subdivision, such as Mayor Pro Tem Biju Mathew, whose homes back up to an eligible shopping center.

The report prepared by the city staff included these pylon signs from neighboring cities as “preferred” examples:

The same report included these signs as “undesirable” examples:

The City Council will be briefed on this proposal Tuesday, but the earliest they will vote on it is July 12.

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Short-Term Rental Permit Was Short-Lived

The last time I published an article about short-term rentals, I reported that there were 10 permitted properties in Coppell. That number had been 11 until the permit for a home on Oakbend Drive was revoked.

That particular permit had a short term of its own; it was granted in October and revoked by January. The primary reason for the revocation was that the owner, Scott Young, was not using the home as his primary residence, which is a requirement per Coppell’s ordinance. It didn’t help that the city received complaints about loud parties at Young’s property before and after he received his permit.

I know about all of this only because Young appealed his permit’s revocation, and that appeal was considered — and rejected — by the Board of Adjustment on May 5. One piece of evidence introduced at that hearing was a response that Young wrote to a review of his property on Airbnb.

“I have only been doing [this] for 1½ months so still working on things but love feedback to improve,” Young wrote in October. “Have been working on improvements after we moved out but time consuming moving out and moving in to new home.”

The primary witness at the hearing was Assistant Director of Community Development Luay Rahil, with City Attorney Bob Hager playing the role of prosecutor. Under questioning from Hager, Rahil said the city learned in January that the house on Oakbend was not Young’s primary residence, even though Young signed a document that said otherwise when he applied for the permit.

That permit application said Young’s mailing address was the UPS Store at Denton Tap and Sandy Lake roads. It also said his local emergency contact was someone named Mateo Young who lives on Crape Myrtle Circle in Irving. That Irving house is owned by Scott Young, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District.

Another piece of evidence at the May 5 hearing was the Airbnb listing for the Oakbend property, which included this: “I live 15 minutes away so if any major issues I can visit.” Rahil told the Board of Adjustment that he drove from the house on Oakbend to the house on Crape Myrtle, and that drive took 15 minutes.

Another witness at the May 5 hearing was Oakbend homeowner Jacque Bresnahan, who said the properties on her street have deep backyards with no fences. She would see different people wandering behind her house every day, which she said was “unnerving.” Despite living three houses down from Young’s property, Bresnahan said she was awoken by noise from parties at 2 in the morning.

“When we built that house 29 years ago, we were not anticipating living with a hotel next to us, basically,” she told the Board of Adjustment. “Allowing this to continue in any way is counterintuitive to a family neighborhood.”

Although Young appealed the permit revocation and was advised of the May 5 hearing, he was not at Town Center on that day. His absence seemed to irk the city attorney.

“He’s wasted their time, your time, the city’s money to have me come down here to prove up that he’s, at best, untruthful,” Hager said to Rahil during the hearing. “They’ve taken time out of their schedules to come down here, and he didn’t even have the courtesy to tell these people or to come to them or come here to plead his case.”

I emailed Young to ask why he didn’t show up for the hearing and to give him an opportunity to respond to the allegations. In response to the first question, he said he “was in crisis mode that week” due to a situation with his daughter and her “mental health issues.”

As to whether or not the house on Oakbend is his primary residence, he shared an email he sent to the city upon learning of the revocation. It said, in part, “I officially live there. My wife and I are separated and my mom has advanced dementia and I have spent most of my time in Houston getting her in a more advanced facility and spending time with her. I am not sure how you all made a decision based on a letter from neighbors without hearing from me.”

Young told me the house on Oakbend is now occupied by someone with a long-term “corporate lease.”

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Chronicle Crumbs

• Police in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, arrested 31 members of a white supremacist group called Patriot Front on Saturday and charged them with conspiracy to riot. The group was founded by former Coppell High School student Thomas Rousseau, who was among those detained Saturday. They were reportedly on their way to disrupt a Pride Month event when they were all discovered in the back of a U-Haul van.

• A proclamation recognizing Pride Month is on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the Coppell City Council. Longtime readers may recall that the 2021 edition of this proclamation was preceded by some drama.

• Congratulations to longtime Coppell ISD educators Melissa Arnold and Chris Gollner, who were named the principals of Coppell Middle School East and Denton Creek Elementary School, respectively, on Monday.

• The Coppell Parks and Recreation Department hopes to announce expanded hours for July after training some newly hired lifeguards. Director Jessica Carpenter said so during the Parks and Recreation Board meeting on Monday.

• During that same meeting, Coppell Youth Soccer Association President Angela Lancaster said her organization doesn’t have enough referees. Kids as young as 13 are welcome to apply. Hey, I know a 13-year-old with plenty of time on his hands.

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Community Calendar

Coppell ISD Education Foundation Raffle: You have until midnight tonight to purchase a raffle ticket. If you click that link, you’ll be able to tell the foundation which of 12 prizes interests you the most.

Locally Sourced: Tomorrow is the entry deadline for this Coppell Creatives exhibit that will be displayed from June 21 through July 17

City of Coppell Budget Workshops: You’ll get a free scoop of Marble Slab ice cream (seriously) if you attend one of the budget workshops scheduled for Thursday, June 21, June 23, and July 28. Each one will start at 6 p.m. at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.

Adulting: Finances: Jack Carpenter of Edward Jones will present this free program for young adults (ages 18 to 25) at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons. Full disclosure: Jack is my financial advisor and a subscriber to this newsletter.

Coppell 5K: The 13th annual race benefiting Coppell Special Olympics is scheduled for June 25 at Andrew Brown Park East, and the Coppell Chronicle is among the race’s sponsors. That means I have two free entries, but I have no plans to run that day. I’ll give those entries to the first two people who claim them by replying to this email.

Tie-Dying Workshop: The Coppell Historical Society invites crafters as young as 6 to tie-dye bandanas from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on June 25. Though popularized by the counterculture movements of the 1960s, tie-dyeing has historic origins. All supplies will be provided, but attendees are encouraged to bring extra white garments. The cost per student is $25.

Summer Chamber Classics: The Coppell Community Orchestra will present a one-time performance featuring world-class musicians at 3 p.m. on June 26.

Celebrate Coppell: The city will mark Independence Day with a Party in the Park on July 2 and a Parade Down Parkway on July 4. If you want to participate in the parade, you have until 5 p.m. on June 24 to submit your application.