Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 33
Parents Urge Trustees to Save Town Center • Some Question Superintendent’s Start Date • South Haven to Finally Get Deceleration Lane • Abandoned Mansion Facing Demolition
In last week’s edition, I shot my big mouth off and said this edition would include an article about a dog-related dispute in Coppell that has led to proceedings in at least three Dallas County courts. Well, I’m afraid I need seven more days to tell that story properly. And y’all want me to tell it properly, don’t you? Yeah, sure you do.
Although you may be disappointed by that delay, let me assure you that today’s edition still offers plenty of drama. Let’s get right to it.
Parents Urge Trustees to Save Town Center
Town Center Elementary parents, teachers, and neighbors filled its cafeteria last week as they tried to convince Coppell ISD trustees to keep the school open.
On Sept. 22, Coppell ISD Interim Superintendent Doug Williams revealed that his leadership team is recommending that Town Center be closed at the end of this school year as a cost-cutting measure. The trustees are expected to vote on that recommendation during their Oct. 6 meeting.
Fifty people signed up to speak during an Oct. 1 town hall meeting in the cafeteria, including City Council Member Kevin Nevels, whose daughter and son are former Town Center students. Although Nevels said he was speaking as a private citizen, his status as an elected official informed his comments. Nevels said he was preparing to give Town Center kindergartners a tour of City Hall, which is just steps from their campus.
“That short walk turns City Hall into a living classroom, where students see their community leaders at work and begin to understand they have a place in that process,” said Nevels, who pointed out that Town Center is also close to Coppell’s public library, its only police station, one of its fire stations, and a memorial that is supposed to open on Veterans Day. “These civic landmarks create unique, cost-free experiences that no other campus can offer.”
Emily Cantu, the president of Town Center’s Parent Teacher Organization, was among many speakers who questioned the data and process that led to the administration’s recommendation.
“The proposal and timeline seem like a sharp departure from the thoughtful, community-driven conversations we’ve had over the past two years,” Cantu said. “It feels reactionary and rushed. This is about the process.”
When Coppell ISD hosted a similar town hall last year — before the trustees voted to close Pinkerton Elementary, shift its International Baccalaureate program to Wilson Elementary, and consolidate Wilson’s Dual Language Immersion program with its counterpart at Denton Creek Elementary — a group of Denton Creek parents and teachers came up with a workaround for the one-minute limit on speeches: They crafted a long statement and took turns reading it. Several Town Center teachers used that same strategy last week.
“Cowboys United talks about the future, but Town Center is already living it,” their statement said in reference to the district’s new marketing campaign. “Closing us would be dismantling the very model you say you want to grow.”
After the list of speakers was exhausted, Williams fielded a set of frequently asked questions submitted via a QR code. Critics have labeled Williams as a short-timer with no skin in the game, which may be why Board of Trustees President David Caviness asked former City Manager Clay Phillips, a lifelong Coppell resident, to read those questions.
(Although Williams didn’t start working for Coppell ISD until June, his leadership team includes Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Angie Brooks, who was Town Center’s principal for seven years and taught at the school before moving into the principal’s office. I shoehorned that fact in here because I think it’s relevant, but I couldn’t find a better place to mention it.)
One question Phillips read was about the district’s long-term plan for Town Center. Williams initially laid out the short-term plan for the building to house students from Lakeside and another elementary to be determined as those schools are expanded over the next two years. Williams also said a “property and facilities team” that includes Caviness, Trustee Jonathan Powers, and some Realtors would explore options, but he said that team had not met since the recommendation was revealed.
When members of the audience yelled that he had not answered the question, Williams said this: “The answer is, there is no long-term plan as of yet.”
Another question was about the bond-funded $3.5 million refresh of Town Center that happened over the summer and whether that might erode public trust in future bond initiatives. “We don’t anticipate shuttering the building,” Williams said, and Caviness added that a long-term plan for Town Center will be developed if the trustees vote to close it.
(See “School That May Close Will be Refreshed” in Vol. 5, No. 2.)
The trustees have a tough decision to make on Monday night. If they say no to the Town Center recommendation, then what? Would the focus shift back to Austin Elementary, which was presented as a candidate for closure during last year’s debates? If so, would Austin’s parents and teachers get just as loud as their Town Center counterparts?
As the town hall wrapped up, Caviness thanked everyone for coming and said he would expect any school’s community to show up with just as much fervor if they found themselves in the same situation.
Some Question Superintendent’s Start Date
Leanne Shivers has been hired as Coppell ISD’s next superintendent, but she will not officially begin her duties until the day after the Town Center vote.
Although the Board of Trustees named Shivers their “lone finalist” on Sept. 8, they could not hire her until Sept. 29 due to a 21-day waiting period mandated by the state for all superintendents. Shivers did not attend the Oct. 1 town hall due to a commitment in Keller ISD, where she has worked for the past decade, but she was on the sidelines at Buddy Echols Field two nights later for Coppell’s varsity football game.