001Howdy. Welcome in to take two with Hawk. He's the Hawk. Dr. Brent Hawkins, superintendent of schools in Coppers Cove ISD. I'm director of communications Curtis Quillin. Dr. Hawkins, how are you today? >> Well, you know, I think it could best be described for those of you Gen Xers that watched the Roadrunner, the Coyote. Today, I feel kind of like the coyote. I feel like something's blown up. But I guess you get to a certain age where two days of fun, excitement, adrenaline, uh, great things going through the district and uh, you know, when you get to be my age, that just kind of takes a lot more out of you. I guess I've lost a step, but it's been wonderful. Uh, wonderful to see the kids come back and get back into the swing of
002things >> that, you know, we always start with good things. We're recording this episode on Friday, August 15th, 2025. And so obviously that's the second day of school and that's our good thing is that the kids are back school's back in session and and now we're back to you know having that impact that you talk about all the time with the students of Coppers Cove. >> Yeah. Um I went to uh the first day of school went to all 11 campuses did different things on different campuses. Uh it it was great. you know, when you think about, you know, 7,900 kids, uh, right at 1,300 employees in the district, and there's 40,000 people in this community, uh, to to start up uh, the way we did, we definitely have to get an A. And I
003say that from the from the aspect of it, it's challenging to say the least. you know, we're we're not a a a private school. Uh we're not a school that you say, "Hey, listen. After this day, we don't take any more kids." And and we were taking kids uh the the day before school started, the day school started, and uh and and then all all these kids is coming our way. And and so when you when you mix that in, uh I I think there there's some wrinkles out there. And there's always going to be wrinkles when you can't say, "Hey, this two weeks before school, we can't take any more kids." Well, cuz all summer literally we spend planning. Uh actually, it starts in November. November starts the planning for the next school year.
004And so, you know, I came in January 14th when that planning had already started. But but to have all of those dynamics and you know all of our buses was was home uh way prior to 6:00 uh in the in the bus barn or I guess we'd call it the the dog house uh for the yellow dogs uh that uh that they're there. Um, and and so I I think we had a a great first two days. Uh, and and like I say, is there things that that we're going to work out over the course of the next two weeks? Absolutely. You've got you've got some new staff. We have 53 new teachers that are out there. We've got kids that have never been in our district before that have moved in from other districts.
005Um and and then on top of all of that, you throw in that over 600 kids was displaced from one campus uh about three or four weeks ago and and now they're on two other campuses. And so that messes with all of your bus routes, your routing software. Uh you know, it puts a strain on the logistics of parents coming into buildings, but as always, it it takes a while. uh routines and procedures settle a whole lot of that down. Uh and then we go we go back to a state of normaly where we can really focus and all the kinks are worked out. >> You know I one of my favorite parts of the job is of my job is doing that first day with the media. And so you know this year we
006took the press to Hetty Hallstead Elementary on the first day yesterday and they got to talk to Dr. Tanya Sweeney, the the real phenomenal principal that they have over at H Hallstead. And it you can just hear feel the energy as soon as the doors open 710. And you know, the cameras start clicking, parents start walking their kids in. It was a lot of fun um seeing that. And uh I didn't get I didn't get to all 11 yesterday. We'll get to some why here in a little bit in this episode, but um I definitely agree with you that it's it's definitely a phenomenal way to start the school year. Um, and and I'm I'm excited to see uh where we go from here. Let's let let's pivot a little bit here and talk about
007the school district, but it it's kind of related more to last year than it is this year. And that is that as we record this today, the Texas Education Agency has released the 2025 A throughF ratings for each district. CCISD has maintained its B rating and improved from 2024 to 2025 in that now eight out of 11 campuses are a B or better where it was seven in 2024 with Williams Ledger moving up um from a C to a B. When you look at accountability for the district, what sticks out to you and what were your takeaways from that? Well, I just think it was a shame that we've went a full legislative session and a special session and the legislature still has not addressed assessment and we've got a broken assessment system and it
008needs to be addressed and uh you know I'm I'm I'm apolitical in this deal. I'm not Democrat or Republican, but I can tell you that uh you know, they need to they need to get to Austin and they need to do their job and they need to get that taken care of. As I've said, uh I I don't always agree with Representative Buckley, but Representative Buckley does have a good step forward uh in this in this assessment system. Uh we're overesting our kids uh and and getting very little return on our investment from that. And and the point that I will make with that is this. Those ratings come out and we're proud of them. We're proud of the effort and energy that went into them, but I also have to defend the kids of
009Cove and the staff of Cove because I don't think you really get a true picture when when you grade them with AI. And I'm a and I'm a proponent of AI. I'm just not a proponent of it being used as a grading system now. H I if if we're going to spend the millions of dollars that we spend then then a human being ought to and and the kids stress and worry you know it ain't like that they hooked up AI to answer all the questions for them you know uh that most of our kids are fluent in chat GPT and so if if you let them use that on the test where would we be so quit quit grading with it let a human being grade it and I I think you'll get a
010whole lot more accurate depiction because my friends across the state have found anywhere from 25 to 80% that they have sent to TEA to be rescored have come back as as a positive grade or they passed where the AI had them failing. And so I just say that hey look here here's all the great things that we've done in Cove. However, if if a human being had graded them, where would we be? Uh and and and it's not like I'm trying to game the system. All I'm trying to say is the human being gives you a whole lot more accurate depiction of of what's valid out there right now. And so I think that's a shame. You know, we've got Copper Cove High School down as a 92. Um and you know what? If they
011earned a 92, they should get a 92. So, we're going to appeal that and see if they get an A cuz they got them at an 89 for, you know, two two uh ratings in a row. And uh and so one of us is wrong. Uh you know, but it's kind of like going to a gymnastics meet and you're the Americans and you look over there at the judges and they're all rushing. You know, you you feel like you're kind of at a hole uh coming out of the gate. But nonetheless, we're going to go through the process because we think that we owe it to our community. Uh you know, public schools uh is the grow is the biggest employer in most communities and and and that and that dollar in public school, you
012know, we got a $90 million budget. Well, it it turns over anywhere in some districts from twice to four times. So, we're a tick under a billion dollar uh engine uh in in in communities. And the other thing I say is is that we also, you know, if you got a great school district like Cove, you got people that want to come here. So, your property values are up. You it it makes your property worth more. If you got a school that parents want to avoid, then your investment, some of the largest investments that people make are depressed. and and so I think that that we owe it to our community uh and and then we owe it to the kids that stressed on that test and and we owe it to the faculty that
013you know that this is their life's work to make sure that we get that right. So that's why we're going to appeal that. >> So I want to touch on that 25 to 80% of appeals from other superintendents that you know have been it have seen an improved result after the fact. >> Yeah. There's what five million students in Texas public schools statewide. So >> let you know obviously prek K1 2 those grade levels are not taking statemandated testing on that pivot that play into those account those A through F ratings but you're still talking about nine 10 grade levels that are and so you're that's a that's millions of tests. >> Yeah. and lots of money because they're not grading it for free. >> No, >> you know, we they're not issuing it for
014free. >> The state's already paid millions and millions of taxpayers dollars to get these tests uh designed uh and and rolled out uh to the kids. uh districts have invested a lot of money and infrastructure in making sure that we have the technology now to be able to take them because remember these 10 year old kids is sitting on a on a on a on a looking at a screen for four hours and and then that's determining whether people think they can read or not. And so, you know, that that that cost is in is is in addition to if you want them human graded, you want them rescored by a human, then the district has to fork over more money in order to go back and get it rescored, too. So, how much money
015would that cost if every kid got a real chance at a human being grading their test across the state of Texas? You can read more about the 2025 state accountability ratings at ccisd.comnews. Again, that's ccisd.com/news. Now, for those of you who are sitting there going, Curtis, you're forgetting that the state released 2024. We're aware, but we did that back in April. So, we talked about those on an earlier episode of of Take Two with Hawk. You can still read those at ccist.com/news. I think this is th this is one of th this is something that a lot of campuses like to celebrate and rightfully so distinctions and I want to touch on that for just a second. In the 2025 testing cycle out of the nine eligible campuses in CCISD six earned 18 total distinctions.
016Um, Coppers Cove High School, Co. Cove Junior High, SC Lee, Clemens Parsons, Fairview Juul, and Martin Walker all earned at least one with Fairview and Martin Fairview Juul and Martin Walker earning five out of six possible distinctions. And in 2024, those distinctions were also just released today. Uh, the district earned its only possible distinction, postsecary readiness. But then out of the nine eligible campuses, because May Stevens is not eligible for distinctions and Crossroads High School is not eligible for distinctions. So out of the nine, eight receive at least one in 2024. So lots in there to be proud of, but like you said, it it's still a flawed system. >> It it is still a flawed system. And you know, just from those distinctions there, it's hard to close the gaps more than one year
017in a row. >> Yeah. you know, when you close the gaps, you close the gaps. And so, I think if you just look at it from a linear standpoint and hey, this is this is where we're at, then you forget that, you know, hey, this campus was closing the gaps last year. And so, you know, their kids start to get caught up at that point. And so, you know, some of those distinctions is real hard to get every year >> and it's incredibly hard to get all six. That's one of those things that you you typically point out. Fairview Juul did do that in 2024. You can read all of that again ccisd.comnews to see where CCISD ranks against the state. Okay, board meeting this week. [clears throat] Um, as we're recording this, that was
018Tuesday night. One of the things on the agenda, and this got quite the crowd inside the boardroom, it was conversions at the baseball and softball fields at Coppers Cove High School. So, let's take a step back from this and discuss it. So, you you've told the story about when you came into town on your interview with the baseball field and it doesn't any rainstorm. There was a light one in July and one of the guys in our department and I drove over there and we we walked onto the baseball field and the same was true there. Any rainfalls right fields a pool. Um, you look at the softball field and if you're a middle infielder running backward to feel a field feel the ball, you're typically backpedaling on a 6 in slope. It's not a
019madeup number. If you put a level on the cut on the softball field, hold it up level and then put a tape measure under the the center field end of it. It's 6 in. we've done it. It's incredibly steep. Or if you're an outfielder charging a shallow fly ball, now you're running uphill at full speed. And so that field is it it just kept getting built up and it the it's not level. It's or and it's not just crowned either. And so the the board approved the conversions of those baseball and softball fields to put artificial turf down and then do some other uh upgrades around that softball field. And so I want to see where you want to take that um as we talk about those those fields for those students. >> Yeah. Uh
020well, it it's it's uh January 14th uh was my first day, but you know, in December, I was looking at it at at every facility in this district. I said I stayed in the Best Western and and and you know, drove around the district to really look at it and and there was no doubt that that there were needs uh on that baseball softball field. it really [snorts] uh stuck out to me and um you know and so as I as I came in we started working on that immediately you know we started conversations about it I think in fairness to the board uh you know that thing was on the 2024 bond uh that failed uh and so people knew about it before I got here I just you know when when you talk
021about my entry plan and everything and you're talking about the facilities in which we have um you know I'm I'm objective, you know, do I compare Livingston and Cove as far as facilities and everything? Absolutely. I think that's human nature to do so. But in coming in uh and and looking at that field uh you know people had already uh said, "Hey, there's a problem here." Um, and so, you know, the, uh, the bond had failed, and so it's up to me, uh, to try to figure out solutions for our kids. And so, uh, Dr. Chuck and I started working, uh, we started reaching out to, uh, different vendors, uh, to see what they could do. Um, you know, we went through an athletic director change during that during that time. Um, and and so,
022uh, Dr. Chuck and I carried most of the most of the burden on that because, you know, uh, athletic director was going out, new athletic director was coming in and and there's just a lot to do and a lot to focus on. And so we started working with vendors and you know we we reached out to various vendors and and talked about the most economical efficient way to give the kids uh you know a standard in which we want uh for our facility there. And so in doing so um you know there were some vendors that for whatever reason were busy building other fields. There were some v vendors that were uh concerned about tariffs. You know, some of them wouldn't give me a price because they didn't know, you know, how much the tariff
023was going to impact the cost of their goods and services. And uh and then in full disclosure in in Livingston before I left, uh we turf the baseball softball field at Livingston. And so I had already went through that process with the vendors and getting those quotes and and bringing those things to the board and and and they were finishing that field after I left uh as superintendent there. And so I had a good idea about going through that process and what it cost. My only concern was inflation. Yeah. what has inflation done to this you know possibility or opportunity for our kids here in that in that in that interim and um you know I have used various vendors uh over the course you know 19 years ago I became superintendent and I've used
024various construction companies various vendors and it and it feels like that I've had a lot of experience whether I wanted to or not in some shape form or fashion that the the needs of kids. If you stay long enough in a community, there's going to be needs that you have to address. And uh and so I I was able to use those prices there and and and go out into the market and see what we could get. And uh you know, financially it really exceeded my expectations. And and when you look at that turf, it it always gets lost in the wash that, you know, the there there's people like me, you know, I played basketball in in Huntington, Texas, and I never did play in an air conditioned gym uh in that school district
025cuz we didn't have one. Uh you know, we had big fans up in the in the top of the the gymnasium and I can remember how hot it was and sweat and we were used to heat. Uh and it really didn't bother us today. they'd probably kill me. But um you know, I'm one of these guys a lot of times that'll say, "Well, you know, back when I was in school, yeah, >> but you know, here here's the deal with that. Life has changed. Times have changed. I mean, my god, we've got everything up to cell phones and apps on cell phones now that we would have never dreamed >> back when I was a red devil." And so, you know, the the fact of it is is this. Folks commonly will say, "Well, you
026didn't need to do anything but do a little dirt work out there and and first one thing and another." And and hey, I get you I get your point. Uh however, it is more economical for the district to put turf down. Uh whether it's at the football stadium, you know, 92% of of the schools in the state of Texas plays football on turf, >> right? And so at some point somebody made a decision to put turf over at the stadium, you know, and and over a 10-year period, you know, you've got fertilizer, herbicide, paint, labor, uh that goes into the cost of that thing, water. >> Yeah. Uh, and you know, we're we're in a situation here where, you know, talking to the to the city. Uh, you know, we're it's kind of concerned about
027growth of the city and and what that does to water. So, as a as a as a district, anything that we can do to curb our intake of water, I think we're being a good partner to our community. And so you you take trying to be uh responsible uh from an environmental standpoint, you you you take the the financial aspect of does it cost money upfront? Yes, it costs money upfront, but over the course of 10 years, 12 years, 14 years of that field, however long you can stretch that out there, um before you have to replace the carpet because that's the deal. when you do replace it, you only have to replace the carpet, right? >> You don't have to re go under all the subs soil and all of that and redo that.
028And so I think that uh economically it made sense. And not only that, you know, those kids made history this past year and it was an opportunity to say, "Hey, job well done." And so it made total sense to me. And when we got the when we got the bids back, the quotes back and and we looked at them, you know, it's not just carpet and turf. It's uh you know, like the base softball field there, you're looking through a chain link fence and it's going to be netting and uh and then you know, the the outfield, they're going to put our panel up there. And so it's going to be a very good uh facility that the kids of this district can use for times to come. And uh you know I I I
029do believe that we'll have some folks that want to come in here and play us because you know as a coach when you start looking for people to play man I'm not going to Cove their their fields aren't any good you know you're going to go and put your kids in the best facilities possible and so I think this will get us some competition and some good games along the way and our kids will enjoy that. A week ago when you and I taped this podcast, we talked about the balanced budget and that that was going to be a a tough road to hoe for next year because of utilities, which ties back into this. >> You look at you talked about water demand is going up. The supply of water to the city is
030not >> but that also means that the cost of water just basic economics. That's that's as much as I understand. >> If you if you want to be energy efficient in a school district, you know, you you need to look at your sear ratings on all your air conditioners. You know, you need to look at your insulation. Make sure your building envelopes are taken care of, that there's a a management system in place, >> your lighting needs to be LEDs. you know, anytime you can put turf down, you know, you you flushing toilets and all those things, you need to look at that and make sure that, you know, you got the most economically ecologically friendly uh toilets to conserve water. I mean, there there's a lot of ways that you can cut into um
031making a district work more efficient, and this is one of them. >> Yeah. So, that's that's some of the baseball and softball fields. And okay, I know the board asked you this Tuesday night. I'm going to ask you again just so that we can say it to everybody. When is that estimated to be completed? >> Uh the target date is the end of this semester, December 31st, so that we can have them for this year. So all of the seniors that was sitting out in the in the area out there, they kind of lost their breath when I said May 31st, you know, but hey, uh I'm I'm proud for them. they'll get to to usher in their senior year uh on on turf, be the first class to do so. >> Another purchase that
032was on the board agenda Tuesday night, band uniforms and instruments. Something that we're trying to get back onto a cycle as a district and something that the Pride of Cove needs. That's I mean, the Pride of Cove is a band that's competing very very well, especially against much more resource schools. Round the Round Rock ISD schools, Huau, those types of things. Um, it's this this this purchase for the ban that was approved. What does that look like and what does that mean for those students for the next 10 years at at Copper at Copper Cove High School? >> Well, you know, I got a saying that a lot of my friends know is it only costs a little bit more to go first class. And uh, you know, those people that you mentioned there, you
033know, they're definitely going first class. And so, you know, when when I came in, uh I if you haven't kind of back to baseball softball, I I encourage you to go out and support those kids. See that field when it's completed, go out and support those kids. But uh uh as far as our band goes, we have a tremendous amount of talented students in there that are gifted and I enjoy, you know, last semester I went and and sit in Lee Ledger there and listen to, you know, practice and and and I've been back and watched practice a little bit and I intend to go more with our band out there. you know, they'll have a marching contest this this semester and and uh I encourage folks to to go turn out, come to the
034football game, listen to them, go to their go to their contest, uh support them, but part of that support is that we got to make sure that they look first class. Uh looks matter. uh when when they're out there marching and they're in a marching contest, you know, we can't we can't have the kids looking haphazard. They've got to look top notch because they're being judged. Dr. Hawkins, is it a beauty contest? >> Well, I don't know if it's a beauty contest or not, but I know it's all part of it. You know, it's just like you go down to local business to get a job and you know, you need to look the part, right? >> And so, if you want to be a championship band, you got to look the part. And so,
035uh, you know, when I came in, we were between band directors and, uh, you know, uh, the the main thing is this is is that when I found out that the uniforms were 15 years old, uh, you know, and you talk about cycles of things, Curtis, is exactly right. We've gotten out of cycles in this district, and there's a reason for it. It's not the board of trustees, you know, it's it's COVID got everybody out of cycles. >> Yeah. uh when COVID hit, you know, multiple things happened. COVID hit and we're doing things and and and all of our timelines got messed up. And then the the other thing is aside from COVID, you had inflation costs going crazy. And then you had a state legislature that has not funded public schools since 2006. And
036so, you know, they were really, every district in the state was, you know, making brick without straw. And so that totally devastated our cycles. And, you know, here's the deal with that. When you get behind, >> it's hard to catch up. >> You at the bottom of a tall tall hill to catch up. And so this this cycle, my god, we ain't we ain't got those band kids anything in 15 years. Stop. Okay, 10 years is a normal cycle on a band expenditure for a school district. We got friends all over the state. And listen, I can't they won't let me sing in church. Okay? So I'm not gifted, but I love music. You can go in my office down there and there's a distinguished educator award that I'm very proud of that I got
037up on the wall because here I'm the superintendent of every kid, every kid's dream in this school district. It's my job to do everything I can to give them the opportunity to be great. And so having h having that on my wall is something that I'm very proud of. And uh and so this this 10year cycle uh with these band uniforms, I wanted to make sure that the new band director had blessed that uniform. >> And so, you know, moving forward, it wasn't just uniforms, it was instruments, too, because we had some instruments was falling apart. >> Those instruments we're going to be able to get real quick. Okay? But the uniforms, not so quick. But once again, it's a it's a 10-year purchase, you know, so we need to make sure we get it
038right more than we rush. And and so what'll happen is now that now that it's been approved by the board, uh Mr. Morales will get a sample sent to him. They're working on a sample right now. And that sample will come in and make sure that we're not buying anything from Teemu. And uh No, I'm I'm kidding about that. They're not from Teemu. They're from Ohio. Okay. And so it it those those uniforms will come in and they will look at them and make sure it's the quality that they want, make sure that it's the design that they want and and he's been working on that. You know, you don't just sit down and five minutes make up a uniform. You know, he's thought and he's dreamed and and this is a big deal. And
039so then once that is approved, then they'll go into production. And so sometime uh next semester, late next semester probably is when uh those things will come along. But we're we're excited for those kids to to walk out there and know that they're standing in the best. >> Yeah. You know, so a some people don't know this. I did one season of marching band in college at Oklahoma State. And so they had just gotten new uniforms before my freshman year. And the director talked to us because we were the first my the year I was in that was the first full football season that they had those and he started telling us like if you don't take care of them we will charge a new uniform to your your burser account because he started outlining
040that process and everything you said is true but like there there's even more to it than what Dr. Hawkins is outlining here. They're making sure that they that they're using not just the appropriate shade of dye in these uniforms, but the right amount so that it comes out the right shade on that. >> What you're telling me is it ain't like going to Walmart. >> No. >> You know, but if I wanted a new pair of overalls, I go to Walmart and pick them up and buy them. These are really custom made and there's a lot of complexity that goes into it, >> right? And that that is the band's identity and it's supposed to mirror that of the school and the town. And so that's why it takes so long. And it's not just
041because it's Copper's Cove. No, Oklahoma State University went through this and it would took just as long um you know, 10 years ago, 12 years ago. So it's it it's going to be awesome. And Mr. Morales has done a wonderful job so far. And when we see the band take the field for the first time two weeks from today, um I'm excited to see to see where they're at. >> Well, it's just it's like everything else. I say, you know, our kids deserve our very best and if it's in band or or whatever it's in, they deserve our very best. And and so, um, you know, I I hope I hope this the greatest thing that we can give to the kids of Cove is unity. and and and when we can get our community
042united behind our our our band, we can get our community behind any of the other things that are going on, if there's one thing that we could do is to clap for each other. >> Yeah. >> And and when you look good, you feel good, you play good, you perform good. Uh, and so, you know, I I just my my philosophy, and I don't think you have to, you know, I've said you don't have to be Mara Lago, you know, you don't have to drive around in a Lamborghini. Uh, but there there's a there's a standard of feeling good and looking good for our kids. And I'm I'm very unapologetic about that and making sure that you know, look, being frugal. I'm very frugal when you talk about those baseball softball fields. That first number
043we got was $4.3 million is what it would cost for turf alone. >> And you're not afraid to tell a contractor that's not going to fly. No, that dog won't run. >> I'm out. You know, because I I I I would do that with my own money. >> Yeah. And so, you know, that 4.3 million went down to 2.1 million and then we got a lot of other stuff with that. And uh and then, you know, did you Well, you just sacrificed quality, Dr. No. >> Come see them when they done. I guarantee you'll be proud of them because those fields >> are the quality of Major League Baseball. And so, uh, but being frugal is one thing, but you know, our standard is our standard and we want to make sure that we do
044our very best for all of our kids. We're not looking for a bargain even though we're going to get a bargain, but we're go f our first priority is to make sure that our kids is outfitted and got what they need. So, that's an update on band uniforms and instruments. It was a busy board meeting and we'll have a Hawks Talk newsletter outlining more things that were on that agenda for you next week with the board meeting and the first day of school. It was just a lot. And and let me just say this too just to in in closing on this whole we transition because I know folks got better things to do than listen to me but but it it's it's criticism of you know it's like I say the unity of of
045kids and and I hear a lot of times you know that there in in society today about athletics you know and and and that well you spend all that money on that. know we we we're spending money on on kids first and foremost and and I hey I have a passion for CTE and we got a cosmetology facility over there that we're going to open up an open house on and I want folks to come out and I want folks to use that uh to get your haircut to to let those kids work uh to to get give our kids practice because I I'm gonna do the same thing and I but I know uh Lloyd and Caitlyn are two kids that the reason when I came here I felt so strong about that cosmetology
046program because it changed those kids' lives there. The band program changes kids' lives. Athletic program changes kids lives and so I I understand some people have well you're just doing this with athletic. No, I'm doing this for kids. And so uh I'm I'm I'm very proud that the kids get in everything we do. that's going to be the standard that we're trying to set and working towards every day. >> And and you know there's this notion those extracurriculars are really more co-curricular. You and I have talked about this in private where yeah reading, writing, math, those are important subjects and I'm not knocking them at all. My wife is a teacher and I value what she does and I know that you have to have those skills. I learned how to be an adult and
047an employee by participating in sports, participating in band when I was in when I was in school. I've had I've had people in this community tell me that uh Bulldog Athletics saved their life. And and you know, when you talk about an atrisisk program, you know, um I I don't care if it's the CTE that I talk about, if it if it's band, you know, if it's choir, uh or or if it's athletics or any any of those sports. Uh there there's a special program there for kids. And you know, you can dislike it, that's your opinion or whatever, but at the end of the day, I have absolutely no qualm that the lives of kids are being changed in those programs. And that's why we should we should all support them because it does
048not matter what sport, what program, or what it is, you're going to see me at everything because I want our kids to know that their superintendent supports them. I want our community to support them. There's nothing worse than being a kid and looking up in the stands and there nobody being there. You you we you Bulldogs need to know that people are behind you in good times and in bad times supporting you because they care about you. Kids need to know today more than ever that people care about them. All right, let's move on to the next topic. If you weren't at Tuesday night's board meeting, if you haven't seen the recording on YouTube, if you didn't see this morning's issue of the Compress Cove Leader Press, right there, front and center above the fold,
049Tuesday evening, the CCISD board of trustees approved a resolution giving the district permission to call for a $165.7 million bond proposal. There's that B- word again. And here is where we're at right now. And I will uh hit some of the high points before I hand it off to you, Dr. Hawkins. This bond proposal that is going to the community will uh be on the November ballot, election day scheduled for November 4th, 2025. It is three propositions. Proposition A addresses the expansion and renovations at Coppers Cove High School, including expanding the cafeteria, adding a CTE center. It it addresses renovations at Fairview Jewel Elementary, and it expand it expands the cafeteria and renovates Coppers Cove Junior High as well. Proposition B is fine arts and locker rooms and that is the Coppers Cove High School
050band hall and storage and that is the Coppers Cove High School athletic annex and wait room to make sure that every student has the space they need whether they're playing an instrument or playing a sport. Proposition C is outdoor facilities installing artificial turf on practice fields at at Coppers Cove High School. And then the construction of an open air pavilion to protect student athletes from the Texas heat, accommodate UIL wet bulb uh guidelines and then uh it could be used by multiple groups including for elementary field day. That is a very very very highlevel summary of it. There's a lot more that we can get into. So I guess the easiest way to to do that right now is Dr. Hawkins, three propositions, $165.7 million for the November ballot. And it's worth saying before I
051let hand it off, hand you the baton, because the election's been called, people should know you and I can only sit here and talk about the facts of the proposal. We cannot sit here and advocate. That is Texas law. So I will ask you where where you want to start with that and then we'll drive the conversation from there. >> Yeah, absolutely. I I can't tell you to vote for it. I can't tell you to vote against it, but you know, u I do intend to make sure that I do my job in making sure that I present the facts of it. Uh you know, I can talk to you about the evolution of how it unfolded and come about. U you know, there's some things I can't talk to you about as far as
052the, you know, last year's bond. I I mean, the 2024 bond, I wasn't here then. And uh and but I but I've read everything I could read. I've talked to everybody that I could talk to. Um and and then but but no, this is this is strictly a conversation. So if you're sitting there and saying, "Well, I wonder the superintendent. Does he is he really for it or is he against it?" Well, then I've probably done my job. Uh but but I do have a a duty uh to make sure that I go through and and get folks educated on what it is uh that their choice is. Um, and so [clears throat] I think we we have to back up and and the first thing and I and I definitely want to address I
053I've had a lot of people since Tuesday night that have reached out to me asking questions. And I think that it's important from that standpoint is I'm I'm going to answer some of their questions uh today. But I also think that it's important that we make sure uh that got a little emergency response over here. Uh I I I think that it is important uh that that we kind of know where things come from, how they rolled out and and then I'll I'll answer those questions. But um this this whole deal started uh with the board of trustees putting into the superintendent's goals that I needed to evaluate the facilities and to work through committees to make sure that we were doing the things that we need to do in order to address um concerns
054that the board of trustees had. And so they put it into my goals and uh and we started off had nothing. A bond is a funding mechanism. It's not a planning mechanism. And so um we started off and we opened the discussion up to the whole community. And I said that you know in multiple venues that if we get beyond a hundred people that's probably unmanageable. Uh, and so it I kind of in my mind I said I'm going to cap it at 100, but we opened it up for anybody and everybody that wanted to be a part of the the the process and moving forward. I I thought that was important because, you know, when I read back through the past bond, it seemed that there was discontent on people not being able to
055give their opinion, not not not be able to to be part of the molding of the consensus. And so I don't know how big the last bond committee was, but that's why I felt strongly that it ought to be open to any and everyone. And so we we sent out invitations to the former committee. Some of those people, well, they declined uh expressed that they had spent an inordinate amount of time since like 2017 or so in committees and and and they declined. some of them came back and so we had a a mix of of veteran committee members and a mix of of uh new committee members on there. Uh but like I said, nobody was turned away. Anybody that wanted to be a part of of figuring out what the plan needed to
056be um was was welcomed. Now at [snorts] at one point uh there was maybe one or two people that come along and wanted to join after the fact and at that point they had the committee in fairness to the committee it had went far enough um that you know I I couldn't go back and make up the sessions with them and so I offered hey you you sign in you come in you can sit over there and audit or observe or whatever it is you want to do. Um but but the committee itself has already committed and been through so much to get to some type of closure on their plan that it wouldn't have been fair to them to went back and started at ground zero and it would have probably irritated the dickens
057out of them because some of them like I say been there since 2017 and so that was kind of how that committee was was formed. um you know uh multiple evenings, multiple hours uh was put into that committee. Um they they walked through a lot of issues. They walked through uh a a real brief school funding 101. Uh they walked through um the needs assessment that that TASBY had done. uh they looked at the former bond proposal. Uh they they looked at what what is the cost of building and uh and you know a lot of times you'll get a question about well hey I just built the house and and the square footage that it cost to build that school and the square foot footage it cost to build my house. It it looks
058to me like I I know one time we built a concession stand and and folks were were out of shape about building that concession stand. Well, there was like a hundred toilets in there and and plumbing runs the cost per square footage up. It's like building science labs. Science labs is runs the cost up per square footage because of the plumbing. Um, but I say that to say this, you know, in in you know, hey, I got a 2500 3,000 square foot house. It's got three bedrooms and this was the cost of my square footage. Well, you got to remember that it it's not like having 2400 people come through your bathroom. And that uh there's also different codes. you know, a single family dwelling uh is is not constructed, you know, on the same
059stability uh from a code standpoint with fire codes, with building codes and all those things. When you say that Cword codes, when you say that, that's a that's a a a foreign language term for it's running the price of things up. And so they went through and they understood what the what the price of construction was and and why it's different uh in in that standpoint. Um and then they started working through what the needs were. We had a architect firm, you know, uh that was there. Um and and and when I came in as superintendent, uh you know, I I I came into that process, Dr. Burns was has retired and and then you've got a a new architect firm that's over there, Goodwin Ler. Uh that the number one thing that they're known
060for is efficiency. Uh and then and then our construction company uh Gallagher Construction uh came in so that they could offer expert advice. Um, you know, we're we're talking about heart surgery. You know, if we're going to talk about heart surgery, we probably need a heart surgeon in the room, you know, and so if we're going to talk about facilities and building things, then we got to have engineers and architects and and construction folks in the room. And so uh they were there to provide uh information uh on how to take the needs assessment and put it into a plan. They were there to talk about financial projections and things like that as we move forward. And then on once that we went through that process and it ended with um multiple rate ratings and
061and as you've seen in the paper and you've looked around there were about $400 million uh in in needs that was sitting out there uh that if we had a check we could just fix everything and it would be grand. Uh but they knew that the district has a scarcity and they knew that that they were limited and so they had to rank order what the needs of the district was. And so the first rank order was just a blind rank based on the needs and and the information they had. Then they come back and added cost to it. What is the cost of it? Um and then and then it ended up at the end, you know, they came back and ranked one more time after the architects, the engineers, uh the construction people
062had all given them more information. And then that was kind of the genesis or the birth of uh what the committee brought to the uh board of trustees and recommended on Tuesday night. Starting with Proposition A and if approved by voters, Proposition A would total about $142.3 million. So, let's go and and and and touch on touch on what's included in these propositions that will go to a vote. And we say all of this, this [clears throat] is not going to be the only place where you can pick our brains on the facts of this bond proposal. Remember, by law, we can't we cannot advocate. It is just we can just communicate factual information with with our community. Um we will have uh more more venues for that including some community meetings uh that we
063will be announcing those plans for here in just uh a few days. But let's start with Coppers Cove High School adding 55 classrooms, but it's more than that with the CTE center that's proposed in this as well. >> Yeah. the the um >> not more than that in the number of classrooms more than that in the >> it it's I think the direction that came from the committee was that the the transformation of what schools have done they they wanted to align uh their kids opportunities with and so the uh CTE E uh uh design is a school within a school. And so and what I'm talking about CTE, you know, in education, for those of you who aren't educators that's out there listening, um we we have a tough time because we talking all
064these acronyms, but career technology basically uh is is skills, crafts, and trades that 60% of the kids at Coppers Cove High School say that they want to do. They want to be a welder. They want to be a plumber. They want to be a mason. Uh they want to be in HVAC. They want to be in healthc care. They want to be in cosmetology. On and on and on. And so uh I I if if that was uh you know what the kids said is their aptitude and biggest demand, then obviously you've uh the the plan should align with what that need is. And so, you know, the biggest expenditure uh you know, as far as new construction uh that's in this bond is 74,636 square ft of new CTE space. And uh if any
065of you have looked at Forny ISD's $1.2 two billion dollar um OC or they call it the opportunity center. I think that's the that's the direction that this goes because uh this this plan would give kids the opportunity at Coppers Cove High School to have a storefront. What I mean by storefront is this. You know, the culinary lab uh would be accessible to the public. uh they they would have a cafe in the front of it and then they would have their lab space in the back with commercial uh kitchen and all those things to serve. But it's not just culinary. It's, you know, you you've got the you've got the the vette, you've got the the the dogs that they that they take care of, you got the uh the floral design class, you've
066got numerous classes, cosmetology, we've talked about that. you know, it would literally be a storefront that our community could come up and and our kids are getting realworld practices uh by their labs and then by uh the community coming up and using them in their entrepreneurial pursuits. And so that's that's 74,000 square foot of of new new construction. And um and then the rest of it uh would look, you know, to renovate, like I've said, Chip and Joanna, you you would have uh internally uh a high school that had been touched in in in all shape, forms of fashion inside that high school. You you you would have the cafeteria that was addressed. And I I think Curtis, the thing that I keep hearing is is this and and I know some people's done tuned
067me out because the the first thing that's on their mind is uh I want to build a new high school. And so I I think in answering that question, it number one, if you ask me, Dr. Hawkins, would you rather renovate a school or would you rather build a new school? unequivocally, I'm going to tell you, I'd rather build a new school. Uh, if you want to get in your car and drive to Livingston High School, go down there. Uh, their high school is uh, you know, was built in 2012. I became superintendent 2014. Uh, but Dr. Myers uh passed a bond there and built that school and uh to to have a new facility, a new high school was uh you know a great benefit to the kids of Livingston. And so if you
068give me a rather which I rather do, I would absolutely uh rather have a new school. Uh but but the numbers are the numbers and and when you look at our numbers uh there there's a reason that the the state of Texas and I don't agree with the tax system but nobody asked me but the the the taxing system has continued to move the homestead exemption up but it hasn't moved the tax rate down and in in in communities like Cove uh where there is a high uh rate of residential value of property. When you move that up, it proportionately affects your capacity with your neighbors capacity. you know, if you've got a if you've got a a nuclear plant over here in the next city or you got a Walmart distribution center or you've
069got, you know, some type of high taxed uh uh entity in and or if you are a district that 75% of your district is from commercial real estate and that homestead deal doesn't bother you. uh you your capacity has not changed. Your capacity to generate revenue to address needs of of a district. And so when you when you think about that, Cove has a lot of residential property. And so what that's done is between the 2024 bond and the bond in November, uh the district is now at $175 million capacity. That's all the taxing you can do. You can pass a billion dollar bond, but you can't sell more than 175 million in bonds. And so, um, you know, that's that's the ceiling. That's the law. That's where we are. And so if you if
070you look at Cove High and you look how many square feet is in Cove High, well, there's over 425,000 in the main building. And then the the add to to successfully educate the kids that that you would need to educate uh in in a in a real world model, you would need to add about 12,000 square ft to the cafeteria and you would need to add the 74,000 square ft to the to the uh CTE area. That drives you out at a total over half a million square feet. Okay. Now, that does not include if you moved off to another school, a baseball field, a football practice, any any of those types of deals there. That's just that that footprint there. So, if you take a half a million square feet and you multiply that
071out what the, you know, the going rate is for meeting all the codes and all those things, you're at $24,938. uh to 200 $24,938,000 in a new school. You haven't purchased the land. You haven't done the dirt work and you haven't done one of the expensive things is running utilities into that school. And then you've you've walked off and left a school that still has some good in it, too. And so, uh, when when people talk about the specifics of that and why you can't listen, uh, you know, it it it the school just don't want you to do that. Well, let me let me be real clear. No one on the board biased the architect, myself, or anybody else on that committee to the best of my knowledge in any way about what the
072outcome of the long range facility plan should be. And so, you know, you you you've got that issue. You you're you're grappling with $200 million, okay? And you say, "Well, you could have pulled the rest of it out of fund, about 25 million out of fund balance." Well, that's more than allocated, okay? But if you if you pull that out, then you don't touch the high school at all, okay? And you still got needs at the junior high. you still got needs at Fair View. And so it just becomes uh cost prohibitive uh in order to do. And so I I wanted everybody to to really realize that and uh and and so that committee fleshed that out. And once they saw that and look, you know, if you if you got five more superintendents
073or you got five more architects, they're they're all going to come up with the same numbers. The industry is the industry and that and that's where it's at. And so the the the numbers drove that uh that that plan. And so, you know, I've also had, well, Dr. Hawkins, this school district over here did that. Hey, why can't why can this school district do it and you not do it? Well, when did they do it? Well, they they did it in in 2020. Okay. Well, what has happened to inflation since 2020? it it is exponentially blown up. And a matter of fact, you're looking at about a 1% inflation cost per month. So when the when the architects in this committee started touching this and fleshing through it and everything, uh you know, the one
074thing that was apparent in the in this bond, the district had lost $25 million of taxing capacity that we talked about, but it also lost $28 million in buying capacity. So you're over $50 million of potential loss, >> right, >> of what what can you do? And so the scope of what you can do is limited. And unless something is changed in Austin, and we know that's not going to happen, then the the committee uh was left with limited choices. Um and and so when you when you look at hey look this district did that and it's in 2020 in inflation has totally changed that the the game has changed totally you know um and so I I think we all have to be aware of that and know that and understand that. So hopefully
075that addresses with some specificity the the uh you know just doing a new high school altogether. And hey listen I I I see I see it on social media. We need a new high school. Well, the solution that the committees come up with is that you're going to get a new high school with what you got. >> Another thing in Proposition A, Fairview, Miss Jewel. >> Mhm. >> The the proposal there is a new larger cafeteria in a centralized location which would actually connect the two wings together and include new space for specialty classes. But then it would also turn what is the current cafeteria into additional instructional space. >> Yeah. So, uh, Fair View is one of our older campuses, as you know. And, you know, I've also I I've I've held on to
076this this deal here because I I've heard people say, "Well, that that that new bond is just like the old bond." >> No, it is. >> Well, the the the only thing about it is this. The only thing that you can hang that on is this bond is renovating the high school. And so if that was your standard to say that it was new, then that's your definition of it. And you know, I used to tell my girls all the time, I had one of them, we were playing softball, she she was adverse to the cold. And I would tell her, if it was cold to you, then it's cold to you. You know, and and so the same thing there. If you want to make in your mind the definition being that I if
077if we renovate that school uh then it's the same bond. But just let me point out >> when I when I walk through that with a high school when I walked through that with a high school that CTE deal storefront deal that was not in the last bond. And so the mission of that storefront and it being CTE focused from that standpoint, that's different when we're talking about you got to overcome $28 million in inflationary losses. Then you've got to think through things and do them differently. And that's what the committee come up with. Um when when you look at at that high school and you see that CTE, that's different. The other thing is different is the cafeteria flipped from one side of the campus to the other and the cafeteria is staying in
078place. I mean to move a cafeteria from one side to the other if you if you just making new construction okay but to move a cafeteria it's pretty expensive proposition. So that cafeteria stays in place that's different. the CTE deal and and and the way that that CTE deal done is is is different. And so when you walk into Miss Juwel and you say, "Well, that that's the same bond, Dr. Hollings. That's the same bond. You're talking about Miss Juel." Well, look, the needs didn't change. The needs didn't change. How it's being addressed has changed. And so I' I've got this flyer here and you can see that Fair View, Miss Jewel, there was $13 million in the previous bond. It was constructed in 1965, but only the far right two hallways was being addressed.
079And one other thing, there was there was a hallway, what I call a hallway to nowhere because it was enclosing a hallway. So that um you just walk through a tunnel from one side of the campus to the other. And so $13 million and you got, you know, the far right side of the campus, but there's other side there's other parts of that campus that has not been addressed. And so in in in this bond, you know, the the entire campus that hasn't currently been touched uh is touched from one side to the other. The cafeteria and specials and everything like that is located in the middle of the campus. And that kind of took out the little bridge to nowhere type deal. And so yes, the the the the bond projection went from 13
080million to 21 million, but you're getting, you know, a a tremendous different scope depthwise than than what was in the previous bond. Um, and so yeah, I think that and then the only new construction on Fairview's campus was the little bridge to nowhere, but but the cafeteria and all of that is a new footprint that goes in the middle of that campus and really ties it together. Um, and so that's all new and very much different from the previous bond. >> So, I'm glad you brought it up. You mentioned the far right building. That's the Miss Jewel Wing. Mhm. >> I've already seen the question come up, so I'm going to present it to you about the renovations at Fair View back in 2019 and people asking why that needs to be done again. Those
081renovations to the Fair View wing weren't to the entire Fairview Wing. >> No, it was a very small segment. It was kind of like, uh, we've got this much money and when we run out of the money, it it it would be like going out here in the pasture and and you're fixing to make a road across the pasture uh with asphalt and whenever you run out of money, the road stops. And so that's exactly what what happened with with the renovations there. They were uh small in scope as far as the overall uh context of the campus. And we will, as I said, the board approved this on Tuesday. And then we've had the attorneys working on the election order and those things and starting school. And there there will be a lot more
082information graphics that's pushed out. Like you said, we'll have three roundts uh that we'll do. uh you know, we're we're going to make sure that uh that in a in a real responsible way, everybody knows uh what is on the ballot and what's not on the ballot and and from Yes, there was there was a small segment of Fair View, but that campus in totality had not been touched to the depth uh that you're looking at. And so that's definitely a difference. the third campus in Proposition A Cove Junior High. Now, the cafeteria expansion sounds like the same project, but the proposal this time is I want to say 4,000 square ft. Well, yeah, you got you got the Coppers Cove Junior High was only 3/4 of a million dollar and it was it was
083basically two restrooms and a hallway. Uh that was the change and nothing else was being addressed. And so 4,11 square ft is new construction to expand the the cafeteria with the restrooms. Uh not not just the hallway, but the expansion as well. And then there's 19,000 square foot of corridor finishes within that school that that needs to be upgraded as well as classroom finishes that uh was put in here to be upgraded. That's 52,500 square feet uh in that school. Proposition B, fine arts and locker rooms. Um, locker rooms came up on that 2024 bond proposal. This is, tell me if I'm wrong. I see Proposition B, and I sat in those meetings. It's kind of like we talked about with Fairview, Miss Jewel. The project sounds the same. The scope is much deeper than
084what it was previously. >> Yeah. and and and I don't you know the there's there's proposition two there and that is a addition there at Cove High and and I I call it you know music education because you know a lot of people say well I you know I'm not spending my money on the band or anything and and there's more than just band that goes on in those rooms you know you you do have band you have multiple bands and then you have music being taught so I I I refer to it is music education and then you know locker rooms uh all of all of the kids at Cove High do not have a locker and and so uh what you've had over the years is you know there was a time where
085Cove High was 4A and you know now it's 6A well with with the ex the that just tells you that it's growing and and then the participation growing And so, you know, I I've talked with several of the alumni and uh there's very little that's changed as far as those locker rooms goes, uh since they graduated, you know, 20 20 some odd years ago. >> And so, um yeah, it it's, you know, 4,000 I'm sorry. Yeah. Uh co we we've got 7,200 uh feet of renovations uh over there square feet. And then uh uh the additional 9,600 square feet uh in the locker room area. And then uh the band hall is about 56,000 square foot of finishes there for the music education program. And then existing arts uh fine arts finishes is that hallway
086down through there is about a little under 20,000 square feet there uh that would be renovated in in that proposition. So you you mention those locker rooms. >> The question will come up and and it has on social media already. So again, presenting it to you. Are those for use by football or are those for use by multiple sports? >> Well, the athletic director is going to have to determine where kids go. Uh but you know right now there's kids strung all over the school in locker rooms and you know if we're talking about uniting and trying to put kids together and everything number one we need to make sure that all kids have a space >> uh in this plan. And then you know aside from that then you know uh depending on the
087size of teams and sports and how you know some athletic directors have has a unisport athletic period to where if you're in athletics everybody's running and lifting there is no sport right >> it's running and lifting getting bigger faster stronger and then some athletic directors breaks them up into chunks and so I I I think that's going to depend on the the uh the coach at the time and then how much you know how they want to male and female both uh um design that but the but the the mission of the committee what they were trying to do is to make sure that it was adequate enough to give somebody an opportunity to do that. >> Yeah. Okay. So that's proposition B. Now, now proposition C, artificial turf practice fields and an open air
088pavilion. UIL has been working to implement wet bulb restrictions with heat. What does that look like? And then why does that open air pavilion come in on Proposition C? >> Well, first of all, um you know, when you talk about that artificial turf, there's there's already been some confusion. You know, I had a phone call today from a guy that said, "Dr. Hawkins is is he waited on me quite a while cuz I was in a meeting. I come out of the meeting. I answered his call. Is the why why did you approve the turf before you went out for the bond?" And I said, "Well, the turf was for baseball softball and it's being paid out of a different fund. It's coming out of the district savings account. Um th this turf is a
089practice field turf that could be used for multiple sports. And so you you've got cheer band, uh copper co the copperes, you've got uh football, you've got track, uh you've got various uh sports including JOTC uh that could all use turf. And um I think that was the the part of what the committee's charge was is that they that they saw uh an opportunity to put it into the proposal and that they that they would also, you know, the wet bulb deal back when I coached there there wasn't any of this wet bulb stuff, you know, and and so uh and then I hauled hay and worked outside and and broke horses and everything else during the summer. And so heat was never a problem for me. Well, it is for kids today. Heat heat
090is there's lots of health related things on the UIL website about heat. And so I know that across the state uh there is a lot of football teams uh that are not able to practice because of wet bulb. When the relative humidity, the temperature, the wind speed and all of that hits a certain point, they can no longer practice. And so it it's shutting them down. Now the thing that that I did do is I I stood out in a bunch bunch of lightning storms. It's a wonder I hadn't have been killed. uh with lightning popping all around me and everything and the athletic director saying hey one more play one more play and [snorts] uh uh so you know when it's raining and those kind of things then you know your kids still get
091to practice and so I think from that standpoint the the committee knew and understood that and was trying to like on that baseball softball field that I talked about earlier that's not part of the bond you know they lost like 20 days of practice time uh this last year uh because of the swamp in right field. And so, uh, the same thing with the other sports when you have that cover, uh, you know, you're not going to run into the wet bulb issues, uh, that that you do, uh, without that thing. And then you know I I I've you know I kind of chuckle when somebody says cover indoor practice facility and things like that but it is a trend that's coming and and and folks across the state are using it and and when
092I've made calls and say hey tell me about this how does it work and they said well Dr. talking. We got elementary field day that we that we do on ours too. And so we we try to incorporate as many people as we can uh so that as many students gets access and use to that thing as can possibly do so. >> And if you go to some schools in this area that have them in our district alone, you go to Midway, you know, Baylor just finished some renovations at their indoor practice facility and they actually moved proday for a few years to Midway High School. And if you're in Midway's um indoor practice facility, which I if you look down on the turf, you see markings for every single sport. There's softball markings on
093the turf, there's baseball markings on the turf, there's football markings on the turf, there's soccer markings on the turf. It's incredibly busy. >> It's truly multisport, >> but it is truly multisport. >> And then extends beyond that to co-curricular stuff. >> Exactly. And if you look up, you can see all the same stuff. It's very well equipped. The the proposal is not enclosed, airond conditioned, indoor. It is open air. So, you know, poles on a roof is essentially how I would describe it. Maybe a net. Um, is that is that accurate? >> Yeah, I I think that's, you know, it's not, you know, Carthage High School has one that's enclosed. I know that that that like you say, there's there's a bunch of schools around the state that have enclosed them, got air conditioners. Lufkin
094High School had theirs enclosed and and has for a long time now. And I saw that and I was like, my god, what's somebody thinking? But, you know, along the way, I've I've listened to people and listen to their uses for it. And I've also listened to uh this whole deal with Wetbug because you know um back when back when I played uh your sports injury, your trainers and folks like that, sports medicine, their job was to get you back in the game as fast as you get back in the game. >> Yeah. >> And today uh that's not the mission. >> Uh with concussion protocols or wet bulb or any of these things. uh what we did in school is totally changed from what kids are doing in school now. And I know that
095communities are simply trying to maximize the opportunities for their kids to practice as much as possible. Now, you may be for that, you may be against that and that's that's your right. Like I said, I'm not on here to tell you to vote one way or another. I just want you to know the reasons that it was put into the plan and then you've got to make up your mind. Is that something that the that that you want to be for or against? And and you know, this this whole thing uh is just that, Curtis, is that hey, I I just want the facts out there. I want everybody to know and understand them. And then, you know, you can make up your mind and they shouldn't be anybody getting mad at anybody. You know,
096at the end of the day, vote your conscience. And and you know, it's a it's a it's a big decision for the community. It's a big decision whichever way you go. It's a decision for the next 50 years if you vote for it or if you vote against it. >> Um the financial impact if all propositions were to pass, I have this in here from our financial adviser would be $2325 per month. That is based on a home appraised at $200,000 um in CCISD, which is pretty close to the average home value. In fact, I think it might be a little over the average home value in Coppers Cove ISD. >> Well, yeah. And and I think you've gota you you you've got to say that once again, those folks that are saying this is
097the same bond. You know, look, that's that's not the facts of it. That's that's that's inaccurate. You can be against it and hey, I can buy you, you know, soda pop down at Popeye's Chicken and we we can be friends or you can be for it and I'll buy you a soda pop down there. That's that's that's all irrelevant. But the facts need to be the facts and and these these two things. Are there similarities in it? Is there one thing over here that's similar as the last bond? Absolutely. Uh but but when you look across the whole proposal, it it's it it it's different. Uh there's there's eight $28 million of uh engineered uh differences in it. Uh, and then I think you're getting more uh you're getting less of the, you know, in
098the previous bond there was a lot of sports in there and in this one it it's paired down. Um, and and so I think you're getting uh uh more stuff and and you look at you I go back to that that last bond on on the stuff that that I was left here. The estimated impact is $27.81 81 cents per average home value. And you and you just said it was what, Curtis? What? $23. >> $23.25. And that's the same appraised home value. $200,000. >> 200. We you know, I I I realize that sometimes there's there's trust issues and and and the bottom line is this, y'all. I haven't been here long enough for most people to trust me, but all my life and number one, I don't have to be here. uh you know,
099I can go home. Um the the the lake in East Texas is low right now. Uh but I'm I'm telling you, I'm really looking at at at buying some property here in uh and building uh and and moving out of the house that that we moved into. Um because I I do love this area, but I'm down a rabbit hole and I don't but I don't have to be here. And I'm I'm here because I I'm I want to serve. And this is this is a community about service. You know, 50% of the kids are military connected and who better to serve than those who serve kids. And and so I just say those things along the lines of of we've got uh we've listened to the community and and this was the things that
100that we wanted to spread out here and and give people an opportunity to vote on Proposition A. As I look at it, Curtis has told you what what the previous bond was. And and and like I say, that's that's $23 versus $28. Um and and this bond is 165. The other one was 175. And so they are elements, but they're not the same. And then and then you start walking down I if if you want to come down the the bond buffet we'll call it and and Proposition A uh you can vote for or you can vote against it. If you vote for it the impact is about $230 a month on a on a home of that that scope and that's about 19 a little under a $20 bill a month. 1996 I think
101for Proposition A that impacts those three campuses. Proposition B is $20.58. In other words, that's about $1.72 of of impact a month financially. Proposition C is $157 $18 a year, $157 a month. And so that's broke out so that the voter can go and figure out if they want to vote for that, against it, and know what the financial impact it is. And I'd also be remissed if I didn't say that, you know, just as in the first bond, uh, 65 and older, you know, there's no tax impact on. So if you're 65 and older, there's no no tax impact. And if you have the 65 and over homestead exemption applied to your property, >> go to go down to the appraisal district and and sign up for that. Whether you whether you do it
102now or you don't, get go down there and get that. Take advantage of that. There's nobody that has a disdain for our tax system uh any more than me. Uh I I'm I'm very much uh outspoken about the way that that taxes roll out and those things, but you know, it's kind of like the the STAR test, the EOC. I'm against that. I think that there's a better way to do it, but we got to comply with what we got to work with until we can get the the star changed. Um and so yeah, that's uh that's something that I point out. I'd also point out that that you know that um you know if you got multiple properties then then you know your homestead you may have multiple uh spots of land that you're
103paying on too and that and I and I understand that you take that into consideration. Like I said I'm not trying to at this point say whether you should be for it, vote for it or against it. I just want to make sure that we get the facts out there and that there's there's, you know, no sensationalization. Uh we've got plenty of time to get everybody uh their questions answered. Um I I I will tell you this, I do respond on social media. Uh but I'm not going to argue with you, right? >> Because that's not that's not what I'm my job is. I'm not here to argue whether you should or you shouldn't. I'll tell you the facts and if you want to believe them, you can believe them. I mean, if you don't,
104then don't. That's this is this is what made America great. And certainly Texas, those 187 Texans that stood down at the Alamo that fought for our freedom, you know, they were fighting for freedom. And so, you have the freedom to do those things. >> Where to look for information in the coming days. In a couple of days, we will have anformational website, web page rather, built on the CCISD website. You'll be able to find that pretty easily on the district homepage at ccisd.com. Um, additionally, these facts will start communicating them in greater detail than what we were able to do here because we were trying to not make this podcast drag on, but also hit the high points in each of those propositions and the process as well. And so we'll go a little bit
105deeper on the Coppers Cove ISD social media channels uh in the coming weeks as well. Um and we'll also have community tables, community roundts, community meetings um with information on the on the proposal as well. Um we are finalizing those dates as we speak and we'll get those out to you in the coming days as well. So we're not done communicating about this. Not by any stretch whatsoever, but we wanted to make sure that in a timely manner, we got in front of the community and explained at least on a surface level what's in the proposal and we can dive into it deeper later on. Um, anything else on bond 2025? >> No, I think I think you've hit it. We're going to operate transparent, factual, and uh if if you do have questions, you
106can email me. Um and and now just give me a little bit of grace because you got to remember there's 40,000 community members here. >> Yeah. >> And I I I only have so many slots in the day that I can function and that's why we do the roundts and things like that. But if there's if there's something quick that you want to email me, I'll be glad to answer your questions because that's what I'm here for. >> Yeah. And you can email the the communications department as well. That's that's what we're here for is to try to answer those questions to the best of our ability. And so that email address is ccisd [email protected]. Looking forward, what are you looking forward to as we wrap things up here this afternoon? Yeah, I'm I'm looking
107forward to the the whole excitement of fall starting and and getting out with the kids and and you know, I've went to a volleyball scrimmage and I look forward to just kids starting to compete because you know that's special in today's society. We want to be divisive. We want to be mad at each other. And you know, our public schools should be bringing people together and and and teaching our kids how to compete because when they can compete, they can be successful in life. And so I look forward to getting out to all the competitions and seeing all that they're doing and all the success that they have. >> You talk about the excitement of fall. Are you a pumpkin spice latte guy? >> Absolutely not. [laughter] >> Not no hesitation whatsoever. Yeah, I agree
108with you. I'm excited to see uh to to see where we go this fall. You know, we we've been a we've been blessed to start the year off well and we're going to work to continue keeping that going. Well, Dr. Hawkins, thanks for your time today. >> God bless and go dogs. >> For Dr. Brent Hawkins, Superintendent of Schools, I'm director of communications Curtis Quillin, saying thank you for joining us on Take Two with Hawk. Again, all of that information coming to you uh in a Hawks Talk newsletter on the district website, social media in the coming days. In the meantime, thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time. Good night and go dogs.