CCISD approves new Executive Director of Human Resources and principal

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

Tuesday night, Copperas Cove Independent School District’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the hiring of both a new Executive Director of Human Resources and a new principal for Williams/Ledger Elementary School.
With a vote of 5-0, the board voted to approve the promotion of Tracie Phillips as the new Executive Director of Human Resources.
“It is with great pride and enthusiasm that I recommend Tracie Phillips for the Executive Director of Human Resources,” said CCISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Burns. “She’s done everything that you can do in education…She is phenomenal at everything she does.”
With Phillips’ promotion, the position of Williams/Ledger principal was left vacant.
“There was one candidate that stood out above all others, so tonight I’m going to recommend that we appoint Jenny Cresswell as our new principal at Williams/Ledger Elementary,” said Dr. Burns.
Again, with a vote of 5-0, the board approved the hiring of Jenny Cresswell as the new principal for Williams/Ledger Elementary School. Cresswell has been with CCISD for about 15 non-consecutive years having a brief break between 2009 and 2013.
During the meeting, the Board of Trustees was proud to disclose that they had received a perfect score of 100 on their FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) Financial Report.
Recognitions for Tuesday’s meeting included the Lady Dawg Volleyball team for qualifying for the UIL Class 6A playoffs and Dr. Jimmy Shuck who received the Workforce Education Impact Award. The Education Foundation also presented CCISD with a check for $44, 879.
Other items on the agenda included the approval of the renovation of the Pride of Cove’s instrument transport trailer and approval of purchase of student laptops.
Another item on the agenda dealt with a small parcel of property located near the old administration building on W Ave D. Dr. Burns recently reached out to the owner, Peter Gaustad about donating the property to be developed as a community garden. 
Gaustad recently reached back out to the district writing, “My children benefited from the excellent basic education they received in the Copperas Cove school system. My son has a degree in mechanical engineering from Lamar University that allowed him to rise to high level engineering management in a local refinery and my daughter has an MS degree in electrical engineering working for a government contract developing climate data software. I will therefore approve any steps you take to arrange for my donation of whatever interest I have in the property that I am currently paying taxes on in Coryell County.”
The board voted unanimously to give Dr. Burns the authority to make decisions as necessary with regards to securing the donation of the property.
The board will hold a special meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m. to certify the election results and swear in new members.