CCISD swears in new trustee to board

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

Heather Copeland was sworn in by Justice of the Peace Bill Price to Place 5 of the Copperas Cove Independent School District board of trustees on Tuesday evening, taking the seat from incumbent Jeff Gorres. Gorres completed one three-year term in office. Prior to the meeting, a reception was held for him. 

Copeland was joined by friends and family, including her husband Jim, retired CCISD administrator, educator, and former trustee himself. 

Tuesday’s meeting also included canvassing the results of the Nov. 8 election, which also kept Place 3 Mike Wilburn and Place 4 Joan Manning in office. 

The board also named by acclamation, Manning as board president, trustee Inez Faison as vice president, and trustee Dr. Karen Harrison as board secretary. 

For action items of purchases more than $25,000 the board approved purchases of the renewal of Big Thought for Technical Assistance, $33,000; and the purchase of teacher and administration technology laptops. for $29,021.25. 

The board accepted a donation of $43,967 from the. Copperas Cove Education Foundation (CCEF) for innovative teaching grants, which will be distributed to the teachers at the campuses via a surprise visit. 

The district is also looking at projects at facilities, and received board approval to go forward with getting competitive sealed proposals for HVAC replacement at Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy, Martin Walker Elementary School Upper Building, and the District Technology Building, with a total of $725,000 in budgeted funds.

The board also approved updating the local policy to add the medication Naloxone, also known as Narcan, to all nurse’s offices at district campuses. The medication is supplied free as part of a partnership with UT Health San Antoni School of Nursing, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. 

The Narcan comes as a nasal spray and campus nurses will be the only ones who can administer the medication. 

CCISD Superintendent Joe Burns said the medication would be available in the event any students, parents, or staff have ingested opioids such as Fentanyl.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, recognitions abounded for the CCISD campuses and their fundraising for the United Way, which set an all-time high of $53,424.32, a 43.1 percent increase from the 2021 campaign, said Wendy Sledd, CCISD’s director of communication.