Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 20
Band Boosters Ask City to Help Fund Trip • Historical Museum Aspires to Acquire Train • Westhaven Residents Decry Traffic Dangers • Council May Expand Bike Helmet Rules
This edition is being published late in the day because I returned home on Saturday after being out of Coppell for a week. Thanks for your patience and your support.
Band Boosters Ask City to Help Fund Trip
Coppell High School’s band boosters are asking the Coppell City Council to help fund an overseas trip — and that’s not an unprecedented request.
The marching band has been invited to perform in next year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, Ireland. On June 23, the boosters briefed the council on their request for $46,625 to help defray the costs of the trip.
Council Member Kevin Nevels, who was a member of the Coppell band that won a state championship in 1999, asked boosters Tara Henderson and Erin Malahowski how they came up with the “oddly specific” amount of $46,625.
Malahowski explained that the council granted the band $30,000 in 2015 to help fund a trip to London for a performance in that city’s New Year’s Day parade. She said the request for $46,625 was based on that $30,000 grant but adjusted for inflation and the growth of the band program’s roster.
Henderson said the program has nearly 400 participants, which represents approximately 10 percent of Coppell ISD’s high school students. About 275 students are expected to join the Dublin trip; if so, the city’s expense would equate to almost $170 per kid.
Last April, when Coppell ISD’s trustees voted to allow the band to accept the Dublin invitation, they were told the cost will be about $3,500 per student. That’s on top of the $1,700 fee that each member of the varsity band will be charged just to participate in the program during the 2025-2026 school year.
Mayor Wes Mays asked how the boosters chose Ireland. Henderson and Malahowski informed him that the reverse was true — the organizers of the Dublin parade chose the Coppell band.
“It’s a big honor,” Malahowski said. “They basically kind of look around and say, ‘OK, who looks amazing?’ They saw Coppell.”
The City of Coppell’s annual budget process includes funding requests from service and arts organizations. Here’s a breakdown of some of the requests for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, and what was allocated in each of the three prior fiscal years:
Last year, the City Council amended their policies so they didn’t need to sit through presentations from every organization requesting funds. They only want to hear pitches about new requests or requests that exceed $20,000 and are at least 50 percent higher than the previous year’s allocation.
Consequently, the council’s June 23 budget workshop also included first-time appeals from Carson’s Village, which is requesting $3,700, and the Denton County My Health My Resources Center, which is asking for $1,800. Metrocrest Services is asking for 45 percent more money than it received in prior years, and CEO Tracy Eubanks explained that to the council in late May.
(See “Metrocrest Services Needs More Money” in Vol. 5, No. 16.)
Mays told all of the organizations’ representatives that they will hear from the city’s finance team about the status of their requests after the council approves the budget in August.
Historical Museum Aspires to Acquire Train
Most Coppell residents are aware that DART’s Silver Line trains are testing their horns on the south side of the city. But did you know a much older train may soon be parked in Old Town?
The Coppell Historical Museum plans to salvage a train and a short length of track that could be displayed on the museum’s property at the corner of Bethel and Coppell roads. Chris Long said so during the City Council’s budget workshop on June 23, when she was explaining the museum’s request for a grant of $130,000.