Coppell Chronicle Vol. 2, No. 19

CISD and YMCA May Pool Their Resources • Do Littlest Kids Warrant Big Investment? • A Year Later, More Info on Arrest • Our Water is of Superior Quality

CISD and YMCA May Pool Their Resources

Photo courtesy of @coppellswim on Twitter

Coppell High School’s swimmers need more lanes. The question is whether those lanes should be in an outdoor pool or in a natatorium.

In preparation for the bond election that Coppell ISD voters can expect to see on the ballot next May, the Board of Trustees has been hearing about wish lists from various departments. Last month, I told you about their discussions of fine arts and career and technical education. On Monday, it was Athletics Director Kit Pehl’s turn at the podium.

Before I dive in to his presentation — so to speak — I will point out that Superintendent Brad Hunt repeatedly stressed on Monday that everything you’re about to read are just preliminary ideas. The final details will be worked out by a yet-to-be-named bond committee.

Pehl said the high school’s swimming and diving program has 120 athletes. Because the district doesn’t own a swimming pool, those athletes practice at the Coppell Family YMCA. Practices are spread out over four class periods due to a lack of space in the Y’s pool.

“We just don’t have the water,” he said. “The participation that we want for our program, we have to utilize the entire day to do it.”

Pehl said CISD could partner with the YMCA to build a 50-meter outdoor pool on the south side of the Y’s property. The heated pool would have eight lanes and a diving well. The estimated cost is $4.6 million, including $600,000 worth of architecture and engineering fees.

Trustee David Caviness asked how those costs would be shared. Pehl said the talks are in their initial stage, but he imagined it would be a 50-50 split. Pehl told the trustees, “The YMCA has a definite interest.”

I contacted the Y for confirmation, and Vice President of Operations Willie Lees said via email, “We value our relationship with our local schools and Coppell ISD. We have discussed the possibility of an outdoor pool and look forward to exploring this opportunity further.”

This discussion of the land south of the YMCA prompted me to take a walk around it on Saturday. It holds little more than trees, benches, and a gaga-ball pit, but that “little more” includes this outdoor chapel tucked into the southeast corner.

As recently as two years ago, Pehl said, all of the CHS swimmers and divers could practice in just two class periods — as opposed to the four periods it takes today. Given the increased interest in the sport, Trustee Tracy Fisher asked whether eight lanes in the proposed outdoor pool would be enough. Pehl said they would be, in combination with the six lanes in the Y’s indoor pool.

Trustee Neena Biswas asked whether CISD could build its own swimming facility in Cypress Waters near Coppell Middle School West or Lee Elementary. The superintendent told her that if the bond committee recommends building a natatorium, and voters approve one, then “we would be looking at all of our sites, wherever we have land and space to be able to accommodate something of that size.”

Trustee Nichole Bentley asked about the ongoing maintenance costs related to a natatorium, and whether Pehl had researched the ones in neighboring districts such as Frisco ISD and Lewisville ISD. Pehl said he’s seen varying levels of financial success, including “very close to break even,” but covering the annual costs on an indoor facility through swim lessons and other community activities is a “very difficult proposition.” That’s why he recommended the partnership with the Y on a heated outdoor pool rather than a full-blown natatorium.

Pehl also talked to the trustees about upgrading the tennis center at Coppell High School. It has enough lockers to accommodate 50 athletes (25 of each gender), but the CHS program has 105 tennis players; if you add in the athletes who attend CHS9, the total is 135.

There’s only one set of restrooms at the tennis center to serve the athletes and the public. Ideally, Pehl said, there would be separate restrooms for the athletes within their locker rooms. And he said it would be great if the locker rooms could accommodate 150 athletes to account for growth in the program.

He also discussed adding LED lighting to all of the courts. At the moment, some of the courts are so poorly lit that it’s not safe to use them at night.

The estimated total cost for all of these upgrades to the tennis center is $6.7 million — $5.6 million worth of construction costs, $850,000 for architects’ and engineers’ fees, and $187,000 for the lighting equipment.

Bentley asked whether space for 150 tennis players would be enough. Pehl said he thought so, because the program’s growth has leveled off in the past few years, relative to a spike in participation that happened about a decade ago.

Pehl pointed out that the CHS tennis center is used by players of all ages. Several tennis pros — all of whom are vetted and insured — offer lessons there to young children as well as adults. “There’s not a whole lot of other examples where an athletics facility serves as a community center as well,” he said.

Trustee Leigh Walker said an upgraded tennis center and a new pool could benefit a wide array of students, as opposed to only those who aspire to be college athletes. After listing several topics that have been discussed at school board meetings nationwide — mental health, social-emotional learning, COVID — Walker said, “The more avenues we can have to have our kids be healthy of mind and body, the better.”

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Do Littlest Kids Warrant Big Investment?

I promise this article will be shorter than the one you just read, and that will be appropriate, given the subject matter: little bitty kids.

Another discussion during Monday’s school board meeting concerned the possibility of building an early childhood facility, or converting an existing school into a campus exclusively for children who are not yet in kindergarten.

Stephanie Flores, the Director of Intervention Services and Special Education, told the trustees that the district had 336 students in its early childhood and pre-kindergarten programs at the end of the spring semester. CISD starts early childhood at age 3 and pre-kindergarten at age 4. A student can be eligible for these programs for a few reasons, including low income, a disability, or limited English.

At the moment, the early childhood and pre-kindergarten programs are spread across four elementary schools: Austin, Denton Creek, Lakeside, and Wilson. One advantage of having a campus just for these youngest students is that everything could be built or designed so that’s its suitable to their size. Think about how much bigger an 11-year-old fifth-grader is than a 3-year-old. They need playgrounds, cafeteria tables, and restrooms that are built to different scales.

Trustee Leigh Walker pointed out what demographer Bob Templeton has said about CISD getting more expensive, thereby pushing out younger families. She said she also knows preschool teachers who lost their jobs due to a lack of demand for their services.

“I would really need to feel pretty confident about the numbers before wanting to see this move forward,” Walker said.

Flores said a new facility could also serve pre-kindergarten students who aren’t eligible for free services; their parents would pay tuition to the district. She said neighboring districts such as Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Irving, and Lewisville offer tuition-based programs. The facility might also offer free daycare to Coppell ISD employees, which Trustee Tracy Fisher said would be a good recruiting tool.

“Once we kind of think about balancing out who’s eligible — you know, what are we required to do, and then what can we do above and beyond that — then we can start looking at what our capacity would be,” Flores said. “So what is a reasonable tuition number to think about, when we think about how big would we want to build our facility?”

As with so many of the questions asked during recent school board meetings, that one will be up to the bond committee.

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A Year Later, More Info on Arrest

We’re coming up on the anniversary of the July 14 raid that the Dallas and Coppell police departments conducted on Laguna Drive. My initial report on that incident said only that the cops had served a warrant related to a human trafficking investigation.

Because it’s been nearly a year, I reached out to the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office last week for an update. I was informed that the warrant led to the arrest of Sang Sun Yoon, a citizen of South Korea who has since turned 70 years old, for the offense of aggravated promotion of prostitution. Her next court date is scheduled for July 22.

I plan to be at the 291st Judicial District Court for that hearing, but I’m not sure it will happen as scheduled. The hearing was previously scheduled for June 21, but Yoon’s lawyer, Bill Bratton, and the district attorney agreed to a continuance. Court records show that they reached similar agreements for hearings that were supposed to happen on May 20, April 22, March 25, and Feb. 15.

The last time something of significance happened in this case, according to the court records, was Jan. 18, when a judge agreed to remove a monitoring device from Yoon’s leg. She has been out of jail awaiting trial since posting a $50,000 bond shortly after her arrest.

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Our Water is of Superior Quality

Let’s loop back to where we started this week: in the water. I recently received a postcard from the City of Coppell that touted its latest Water Quality Report. I assume you received the same postcard. I’d be extremely surprised — and flattered — if the city sent it only to me.

The postcard said, “We are proud to announce that your water meets or exceeds all federal requirements.” If you click the link in the previous paragraph, you’ll see that the city “has maintained its rating of ‘Superior Public Water Supply,’ the highest rating given by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, by exceeding state and federal drinking water standards.”

The report also says that Coppell buys our drinking water from Dallas Water Utilities, which gets it from Lake Tawakoni, Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Fork, and the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. The water in the Elm Fork comes from Lake Ray Roberts, Lake Lewisville, and Lake Grapevine.

The next time you’re tooling around on one of those lakes, stop and think before you leave anything in the water; that same water may eventually find its way to your faucets.

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Chronicle Crumbs

• In the May 29 edition, I reported that the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees would need to elect a new vice president, because Trustee Manish Sethi declined to serve in that position. On Monday, Anthony Hill was unanimously elected as VP. There were no other nominees.

• In the June 12 edition, I reported that Coppell ISD employees would likely get a 4 percent raise. The Board of Trustees made that official on Monday. Because the raise is based on 4 percent of the midpoint for each salary grade, each teacher will earn an additional $2,570.

• In the June 19 edition, I reported that the City Council opted to make additional $10,000 grants available to local businesses using federal American Rescue Plan funds. The Coppell Chamber of Commerce told its members they can start applying for grants at 10 a.m. on July 13.

• Way back in the Nov. 14 edition, I reported that the former Boston Market at Belt Line and MacArthur would become a second location for a Carrollton eatery called Ecclesia Bakery & Café. I’ve since seen people on Facebook saying the Ecclesia in Coppell is unrelated to the one in Carrollton, which would be one heck of a coincidence. So I emailed the Carrollton location last week for confirmation, and the reply I got on Friday said they are indeed related. The respondent also said they don’t know when the Coppell restaurant will open its doors.

• On Friday, the @CHS_CowboysBB Twitter account announced that Armando Garza is the new head coach of the Coppell High School baseball team. I have no idea what happened to Ryan Howard, who led the program for only three seasons but was just named the District 6-6A Coach of the Year thanks to the Cowboys reaching the regional semifinals.

• The City of Coppell announced on Friday that its human resources department has been rebranded as “Employee EXperience.” I asked why the X is capitalized, and I was told it’s an allusion to the concept of user experience, which is often abbreviated as UX.

• On Saturday, as I was running the typical errands of suburban goofball, I noticed at least a dozen yard signs that said “SIGNING DAY” at the top, followed by a couple of phone numbers, followed by more words that were too small for most drivers to read. Maybe you saw them too. I called one of the phone numbers for an explanation, and the person who answered said the signs were supposed to tout a soccer club for girls.

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Community Calendar

Parade Down Parkway: Coppell’s Independence Day parade begins at 9 a.m. on Monday at St. Ann Parish and ends at Town Center. The Coppell Chronicle will be among the participants, with a small army of newsies passing out bags of gummy bears. See you there?

Electronic Recycling Event: If you have old computers, phones, or cameras you don’t want anymore, the Coppell Community Chorale will take them off your hands between 9 a.m. and noon on July 9 at the Coppell Arts Center.

High School Women’s Self-Defense Class: The Coppell Police Department wants to teach female members of the Class of 2022 how to defend themselves as they begin their adult lives. The two-part course is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon on July 9 and 16 at Life Safety Park. Attendance at both sessions is required. To reserve a spot, email Officer Kelly Luther at kluther@coppelltx.gov.

Little Shop of Horrors: Theatre Coppell will stage nine performances of the musical about a carnivorous plant starting on July 15 at the Coppell Arts Center.

Success with Cactus and Succulents: Dallas County Master Gardener Gina Woods will discuss five important growing conditions — water, light, fertilizer, air circulation, and soil — at 2 p.m. on July 23 at the Cozby Library and Community Commons. (That’s a week later than the date reported in last week’s edition.)