School closures.
Larger classrooms.
Less options.
These are all possible realities for campuses across Coppell ISD in upcoming years due to the result of CISD’s proposed Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE), where the proposed Maintenance and Operations tax raise was rejected. The district now must look at alternative ways to address the budget deficit.
Coppell ISD currently sits at a budget deficit of $4.5 million that the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees have worked to address since January.
The VATRE would have raised $2.4 million for CISD through a Maintenance and Operations tax rate increase of 3.16 pennies. It proposed an additional $163 annually in property tax for those under 65.
The money raised by VATRE would have allowed for increased spending on campus resource officers and pay raises for staff members. The absence of the VATRE continues to increase the strain on Coppell ISD’s budget.
“We are going to have to have very tough discussions and work through our budget to see where we can make cuts and raise some additional revenue,” CISD Board of Trustees President David Caviness said. “We have been working on that for the last four years, so we were tapped out in terms of being able to get more money without community support.”
Moving forward, CISD may have to make more difficult decisions including consolidating programs and additional schools, laying off staff members, cancelling pay raises and switching back to a traditional school schedule from the current block schedules at the high school level.
The district has already consolidated Pinkerton Elementary School and considered removing programs such as Dual Language Immersion and Pre-K prior to the election. These programs may come under consideration for consolidation once again as additional avenues to raise funds.
“We have been working diligently, turning over every rock we can to increase our operational efficiency by finding additional revenue and cutting expenses,” Caviness said.
According to Caviness, the board decisions addressing budget concerns will be calculated and ensure that the district is not brought off of balance.
“I do not expect us to make any quick knee jerk reactions as a result of the VATRE not passing, but we certainly are going to have more conversations over this next budget cycle than we have had previously,” Caviness said.
CISD parent advocacy group Yes! Committed to Our Schools founder Rebecca Bailey spent time prior to the 2024 election educating the community about VATRE and its positive effects. According to Bailey, the VATRE’s failure to pass may have been due voters’ lack of knowledge.
“We put up yard signs and we did social media, but I think the in-person conversations could have been ticked up a notch to get the word out, especially now that we know VATRE did not have an overwhelming amount of support,” Bailey said.
The board also hopes to create a more favorable future budget through continued activism for public school funding in upcoming legislative sessions.
“Our biggest opportunity we have working with our community is going to be this upcoming legislative session that starts in January,” Caviness said. “It is working with not only the representatives within our district, but with representatives throughout the state so that they understand the impact of not fully funding public education.”
In the meantime, staff layoffs and budget cuts may increase class sizes and hamper available programs in schools by limiting field trips and practical learning opportunities, as well as potentially preventing student organizations from going to state or national level competitions.
“Class sizes and the programs we might lose will be a big deal,” Coppell High School Principal Laura Springer said. “We have some beautiful programs in this building that we want to make sure we keep because it helps students be prepared for their futures, but if we cannot afford to keep them, we are going to be narrowing down to regular courses instead.”
As the board comes closer to putting options on the table to address budget issues, residents hope decisions can set a good example for the future.
“I firmly believe that we as a district and we as parents can model for our children how to handle this change in a positive way, and we can present it as an opportunity for potential change and for potential new experiences,” Bailey said. “I hope that if we as a collective parent community can do that, it will minimize the negative impact to our students and teachers and community.”
The absence of the VATRE will affect maintenance of Coppell ISD. The district will take measures to account for the budget deficit. Graphic by Kavya Lokhande
This story was originally published on Coppell Student Media on December 5, 2024.