CCISD board recognized, teacher honored for retirement

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Independent School District Board of Trustees received recognition in honor of January being School Board Recognition Month during their regular meeting Tuesday evening. 
The school board trustees received proclamations from both Coryell County Judge Roger Miller and Copperas Cove Mayor Dan Yancey. The board of trustees was also treated to a special performance of Travis Tritt’s “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” by the Williams/Ledger Elementary School Sunrise Singers, under the direction of choir directors Paul Warren and Emily Ellison. 
After the recognitions, the board approved their consent agenda which included four purchases exceeding $25,000. The purchases included the Fixed Asset Annual Update for a cost of $27,500; the purchase of 270 student laptops (60 for high school and 210 for grades K-8) with a five-year warranty for a total cost of $101,228.70; a contract for Special Education Services with ProCare Therapy for services of evaluation staff to include speech language pathologist, diagnosticians, and any other assessment staff as needed district-wide for a cost of $48,000; and the purchase of  300 TI-NSpire Graphing Calculators for students in grades 7-12 for a total cost of $60,046.30, from ESSER II funds. These calculators will allow students to have access to a graphing calculator on state standardized math and science testing as well as ACT/SAT testing. 
The board took action to accept the work by Baird Williams Construction Ltd. for the completion of the HVAC replacement project at Copperas Cove High School, Clements and Miss Jewell elementary campuses, and Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy and authorize the final payment. The final cost to the district is $3,143,995.95 or $221,004.05 under the approved budget. 
The board also approved the CCISD Vision 2024 Strategic Plan. After the completion of Vision 2021 last summer, the district began planning for Vision 2024. Starting in August 2021, the areas of focus were identified by the board of trustees to include: Instruction and Support; Human Capital; Whole Child; Facilities; and Stakeholder Engagement.  A Strategic Planning Team was created, meeting in October to develop objectives and strategies for the areas of focus. 
Between October and December 2021, action teams developed 17 specific results/action plans for the 11 strategies, with each action team including five to 11 members who represented CCISD staff, parents, community, businesses and the military. There were a total of 61 individuals involved in either drafting or approving the 17 action plans that ended up making up the Vision 2024 plan.
CCISD Superintendent Dr. Joseph Burns explained that one of the discussion points that was especially important was to make sure to embed within all parts of the plan the concept of school safety for both students and staff, as well as within the community. 
“That is not an isolated activity. That grows out of partnerships that we have with our local law enforcement community, grows out of partnerships we have with parents, it grows out of partnerships we have with all of our employees and the training that they undergo,” Burns said. “So the Vision [2024] document has not been changed, but we are adding and wordsmithing some places in the action steps that will include those components.”
The Vision 2024 Mission Statement reads: “The mission of Copperas Cove ISD is to provide exceptional opportunities for each student through exemplary instruction which inspires academic success, personal excellence, and responsible citizenship.”
The Vision 2024 Strategic Plan will be posted on the district’s website at www.ccisd.com. 
The board also recognized Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy Special Education Teacher Robin Sutton upon her retirement after 34 years of teaching, 24 of which were spent with CCISD.