COUPLAND — The time has come for the Coupland Independent School District’s five-year plan to include a new high school.
Superintendent Earl Parcell dropped that bombshell during the school board’s May 8 meeting, though he did not broach cost estimates.
The district is building a new middle school that should finish in late summer or early fall 2026, but the building could also expand to serve as a high school, Parcell said.
The superintendent acknowledged the journey to such an endeavor could prove challenging.
“Property values getting shrunk is an example of a challenge (for the school district), growing our enrollment so that we can take care of and pay the bills for this building we’re opening up is going to be a challenge,” he said.
The question, he told trustees, is what comes first: students to fill the building or a building to fill with students?
“It’s a chicken or the egg conversation,” Parcell said.
He also discussed what would be involved in terms of teaching staff and staterequired classes for a high school, adding electives may be slim at first.
Parcell said it was time to make a move.
“How do we take this next step? And why do we take it?” he said.
The district already has a campus just off Texas 95, Coupland Elementary School serving kindergarten through eighth grade, but Parcell said trustees must look beyond that facility and the debut of the new middle school.
“We’ve got a building coming, we’re going to have two different locations, two campuses in 2026…but what are we going to look like in 2030?” he said.
Trustees suggested school names and mascots for a potential high school, but noted the item wasn’t listed on the May 8 meeting agenda and couldn’t be up for a vote.
Most districts pay for new campuses through bond issues approved by voters.
A successful $56 million bond referendum in May 2023 paved the way for the middle school.
The issue of a new high school will be open for discussion during the next school board meeting at 6 p.m. June 12, in the elementary school library, 620 S. Commerce St.
According to officials, the current enrollment is about 315 students. Pupils who graduate from eighth grade move on to other campuses, including attending Taylor High School.
Long-time residents recall Coupland had a high school many years ago, but eventually it was shuttered.
