One of the candidates in the upcoming elections made me laugh yesterday by relaying the very first question this candidate fielded at a recent meet-and-greet: “What do you think of the Coppell Chronicle?”
That was not among the questions I submitted to the seven candidates competing for two seats on the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees and one seat on the Coppell City Council. I plan to publish their answers next Sunday. Meanwhile, you have a few more opportunities to hear these candidates in person before early voting begins next week.
Tomorrow: The Coppell ISD PTO Presidents will host a forum for Coppell ISD Board of Trustees candidates at 7 p.m. at Coppell High School.
Tuesday: The League of Women Voters of Irving will host a forum for Coppell ISD and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD candidates at 7 p.m. at the Valley Ranch Library.
April 24: The Coppell Senior Center Advisory Committee will host a forum for Coppell City Council and Coppell ISD Board of Trustees candidates at 8 a.m. at the Coppell Senior and Community Center.
Fentanyl Has Killed Coppell Residents
Two Coppell residents fatally overdosed on fentanyl in the first quarter of 2023, according to Police Chief Danny Barton.
Barton told the City Council on Tuesday that an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old have died this year. Although he did not specify when the deaths occurred, he said they happened 23 days apart and that 23 days had not passed since the latter death. Barton also said there were “a few” fatal overdoses in Coppell last year.
“I’ve never seen anything that’s bugged me like this is bugging me, because the trajectory that we’re on is alarming,” Barton said, “and our community has got to understand the realities of what’s going on.”
Barton said Coppell Fire Department paramedics have treated 11 overdoses in 2023; whether those 11 cases include the two fatalities was not clear. He said 10 of those 11 procedures involved Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Barton said all of his officers carry Narcan, and Coppell ISD keeps supplies of the remedy on its campuses.
Fentanyl is an FDA-approved synthetic painkiller. Over the past decade, illegally made fentanyl has increasingly been found in the nation’s drug supply, which has contributed to the rising number of fatal overdoses in the United States. Barton’s presentation to the council included these two charts produced by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
While searching for those charts on the institute’s website, I came across another one documenting the dramatic rise in the number of fentanyl pills seized by law enforcement officers nationwide.
Barton said his officers recently seized fentanyl pills at Coppell High School, where a juvenile was arrested and charged.
“We know he’s not the only person in our school,” the chief said. “It’s in every school in America.”
Knowing that Barton would be discussing fentanyl with the council on Tuesday, Coppell ISD Superintendent Brad Hunt issued a lengthy statement the same day that said all of the district’s middle and high school students will hear a presentation this semester from Colleen Michaelis, the P.E. teacher at Pinkerton Elementary School. Her son Tommy McClenahan died of a heroin overdose in 2018 when he was 24, but Michaelis has attributed the start of his addiction issues to prescription painkillers and has said fentanyl “was at the top of his toxicology report.” Michaelis’ “Addiction Does Not Have a Zip Code” presentation will also be made available to parents via Zoom at 6 p.m. on May 3. (Click here to register.)
In their respective presentation and statement, Barton and Hunt both encouraged parents to talk to their children about the dangers of drugs, monitor their kids’ usage of social media, and question whether a child’s behavior or new group of friends could be a symptom of drug abuse.
“This is not a problem that the police can solve alone,” Barton said. “We’re not gonna arrest our way out of this issue. We’ve never been able to do that as a nation or a society.”
This article is outside the Chronicle’s paywall because I’m heeding Barton’s plea to help spread the word.
“I don’t want anyone in Coppell to not know this is happening,” he said. “And I want everyone to know that they’ve gotta take it seriously. It could be your kid.”
Proposition B Addresses ‘Unfunded Mandate’
Last week’s article about Coppell ISD’s $321.5 million bond election highlighted the athletics facilities that fall under Propositions C and D. Next week’s article will focus on a few aspects of Proposition A.
Given that information, you don’t have to be a B student to deduce which proposition we’ll discuss this week.
If approved by voters, Proposition B would fund $39.5 million worth of technology purchases, including upgrades and lifecycle replacements of student and staff devices, wireless access, and audiovisual equipment. The general purpose Proposition A — which covers nearly 84 percent of the bond package’s total price tag — also includes about $2.2 million worth of technology that would be devoted to network security and telecommunications infrastructure. But the Texas Legislature said any tech projects “other than security equipment or integral infrastructure” must be broken out as a special proposition.
(See “Legislature Made Bond Elections Harder” in Vol. 3, No. 1.)
Students across Texas began taking their annual STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) standardized tests this month, and they’re doing so via technology. As Coppell ISD explained in a recent Facebook video, the Texas Education Agency mandated that the STAAR be administered online no later than this year, but the district chose to forgo pencil-and-paper tests in 2022 so that the introduction of an online assessment wouldn’t coincide with other adjustments to the STAAR test.
On Feb. 13, when the Coppell school board voted to put the four bond propositions on the May 6 ballot, Trustee Nichole Bentley pointed out that the state requires technology for mandatory tests but also requires that bonds covering technology be broken out as a separate proposition.
“In a way, it feels like an unfunded mandate now, which it wasn’t before,” Bentley said. “Before, I felt like we were kind of ahead of the curve [by supplying tablets to all students]. But I just think it’s important for the community to understand the importance of it. It’s not just a preference anymore. It really is a requirement for how we operate, and educate our kids, and get our scores, and testing.”
As I’ve reported many times, the district’s financial experts estimate that the maximum tax impact on an average home in Coppell ISD (valued at $450,000) would be an increase of $335 per year or $28 per month, assuming voters approve all four propositions. You can use the district’s Bond Tax Impact Calculator to find out what the maximum impact would be on your home.
If you’d like to learn more about the bond package, Coppell ISD Director of Communications Amanda Simpson is scheduled to provide a presentation at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Majority of Council Trusts Developer
When the Coppell City Council rejected Chris Collins’ plans for Old Town last December on a 4-3 vote, the developer said he was confident he’d be able to win over a fourth council member.
Last week, Collins did just that.
Council Member Mark Hill joined Don Carroll, Cliff Long, and Kevin Nevels on the winning side of a pair of 4-3 votes that happened late Tuesday night. The first vote was on the rezoning that will allow Collins to construct six mixed-use buildings on the southwest corner of Bethel Road and Main Street. The second vote was on a demolition permit for the long-dormant church on the property and its annex.
During Tuesday’s debate, which didn’t begin until after 10 p.m., Hill said Collins’ proposal is probably the best one the city is going to get. But Hill also said, “We have to do something to relocate the church. We cannot let it be demolished.”
Shortly thereafter, Collins dropped a bombshell. He told the council he has an agreement in writing to move the church’s façade to another property in Old Town, at his expense. He didn’t specify where.
Mayor Wes Mays was leading the meeting via Zoom “due to provisions of COVID-19.” Because of that situation, you can easily see the mayor’s shocked expression upon hearing this news.
Before long, Hill requested that the council go into an executive session to consult with City Attorney Bob Hager. That 30-minute session ended at 10:52 p.m.
After about 13 more minutes of public debate, Nevels made the motion to approve the zoning change, and Carroll seconded it. Nevels said Collins had listened to the council’s concerns about his original proposal and made adjustments accordingly. “This checks the boxes of what we’re looking for,” he said.
After that 4-3 vote, the council moved on to the demolition permit. Given Collins’ plans to move the façade, Hill asked why the developer didn’t seek a “partial demolition” permit. Collins said there’s no such thing.
Hager then spoke up to tell the council they could permit Collins to demolish just the annex but not the church. But Collins was not keen on the idea of coming back to seek permission to knock down the church if his plan to move the façade doesn’t work out. “I’m going to ask for a step of faith on your part,” Collins said.
(I guess a step of faith is smaller than a leap of faith, but I’m no expert in that field.)
Carroll pointed out that Collins, who lives and works in Coppell, has a history of developing projects in the city and presumably will have more developments for the council to approve in the future. “We all have a common goal of trusting each other,” Carroll said before making the motion to approve the demolition permit. Hill seconded it.
As with the previous 4-3 vote on the zoning change, the three votes in the minority happened to come from the three council members who are minorities: Brianna Hinojosa-Smith, John Jun, and Biju Mathew.
Assuming Collins uses his demolition permit for the annex, that means the Coppell Youth Soccer Association will lose the building that has been its headquarters, storage facility, and meeting space for more than 30 years.
“It was a unique building with character and history,” said a post on the CYSA’s Facebook page. “We are really sad to lose it.”
Anybody got a lead on a new home for this community organization?
Library Director to Begin New Chapter
Thursday’s meeting of the Coppell Library Advisory Board was the final such meeting featuring a report from Dennis Quinn. The city’s Director of Library Services announced he is moving on “in pursuit of other opportunities.” Quinn did not disclose any details about those opportunities, but he did say Friday will be his last day on the job.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this community and to work with this group,” he told the board.
Quinn joined the Cozby Library and Community Commons six years ago this month as the Assistant Director of Library Services. He became Coppell’s top librarian in January of 2019.
Library Advisory Board Chair Martha Garber praised Quinn for leading the library through “some tough times,” including the COVID-19 pandemic and a challenge to the inclusion of the graphic novel Gender Queer in its collection. (See “Board Votes to Retain ‘Gender Queer’” in Vol. 2, No. 3.) “We will miss you, but we wish you great success,” Garber said.
Quinn thanked Garber for her kind words on behalf of his staff, the rest of the board, and the library’s patrons and supporters, including the Friends of the Coppell Public Library. “It takes a village to make a great library,” he said. “The credit is not mine to take.”
Before formally announcing his departure, Quinn briefly alluded to it when providing an update on the long-discussed plan to allow registered patrons to be inside the library after the staff has gone home. (See “Council Concerned About Late-Night Library” in Vol. 2, No. 12.) Among the reasons for the delay in implementing the program were some open staff positions, including the opening he’s about to create.
“The project is still on the table, but at this point in time, we’re not at a place where we can commit to a hard timeline for implementation,” he said.
As I’ve said before in this newsletter, staffing seems like an odd reason to delay an unstaffed program. But that’s not my problem to solve, and after Friday, it won’t be Quinn’s either.
Chronicle Crumbs
• My partners at Substack have introduced a feature called Notes that’s intended to compete with Twitter, which Elon Musk is making worse with each passing day. The Washington Post covered the new feature’s launch, and you can click here to see the Notes I’ve published since sending you last week’s Chronicle.
• In last week’s edition, I mentioned that the community is not allowed to use the tracks at Buddy Echols Field and the three middle school stadiums. In her weekly newsletter today, Coppell Middle School East Principal Melissa Arnold said her school’s stadium incurred about $50,000 worth of vandalism over spring break. The track, the field, and the fence were all damaged, and some equipment was ruined.
• The Knit Wits at the Coppell Senior and Community Center are trying to raise funds so they have enough supplies to keep making beautiful handmade items for many causes. For more information, contact Shari Nevels at 469-323-0346. (City Council Member Kevin Nevels’ mom asked me to mention that you should leave a message if she doesn’t answer. Yes, ma’am!)
• Project Graduation is an effort to host a safe all-night party for Coppell High School seniors that will be free of drugs and alcohol. It will take a lot of money to pull this off, so click that link if you’re inclined to donate funds and/or prizes. There’s a similar effort for New Tech High @ Coppell seniors, but the only link I could find goes to a password-protected PTO website. (Edit: A New Tech parent sent me a better link.)
Community Calendar
AP Study Days: Teenagers who want to prepare for exams in their Advanced Placement English courses are invited to put their heads together between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons. A similar study session for AP science and history exams is scheduled for April 26.
Coppell Aggie Muster: Kathleen Miller Gibson — a Distinguished Alumnus, a Fish Camp Namesake, and a member of the Texas A&M Foundation Board of Trustees — will be the featured speaker when Aggies gather at the Coppell Senior and Community Center at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Coppell Lariettes Spring Show: The Coppell High School drill team will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in the CHS auditorium.
Music City Hit-Makers: Some of Nashville’s most beloved songwriters will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Coppell Arts Center.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Theatre Coppell will stage three more performances of Mark Twain’s classic tale at the Coppell Arts Center next weekend.
Earthfest: The Biodiversity Education Center in Wagon Wheel Park will offer a variety of entertaining and educational experiences between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday.
End of District Bonfire: The Coppell Cowboys baseball program will host a bonfire (and a Dickey’s-catered dinner) outside Grow It Land Designs between 5:30 and 8 p.m. on April 24. If you see the smoke and flames as you commute down Denton Tap Road, don’t be alarmed.
Peter and the Starcatcher: The play that provides a backstory for Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, and Hook will be performed at 7 p.m. on April 28, 29, and 30 at the Coppell High School Ninth-Grade Campus.
The British Monarchy — History and Scandal: If the upcoming coronation of King Charles III has you royally flushed with excitement, be at the Cozby Library and Community Commons at 2 p.m. on April 30, when expert Rollin Phipps will present a history lesson augmented by artifacts, photographs, cookies, and tea.
Health & Wellness Expo: You might expect this event — which is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon on May 6 at the Coppell Arts Center — to include fitness classes, stretching sessions, and chair massages. What you might not expect is the opportunity to compete in a firetruck pull with a few of your friends.
Muse — A Concert Inspired by Art & Artists: Inspiration and imagination will be key elements of the Coppell Community Orchestra’s performance at 3 p.m. on May 7 at the Coppell Arts Center.
Four Day Weekend: The acclaimed improv comedy troupe will be at the Coppell Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on May 11. Other shows are scheduled for June 8 and July 13.
Run to Fund: The Coppell ISD Education Foundation’s annual fundraiser, which features a 5K race and a 1-mile fun run, is scheduled for May 13 at Andrew Brown Park East.
Coppell 5K: The annual race benefiting Coppell’s Special Olympics teams is scheduled for June 3 at Andrew Brown Park East.
Another excellent edition. Thank you, Dan.
Good coverage on the fentanyl situation!