COUPLAND – Coupland Independent School District closed the doors of its high school shortly after World War II.
For almost 80 years, Coupland has sent its students to Taylor or other nearby communities to finish their secondary education. That all changes next year.
On Thursday, June 12, Coupland trustees unanimously voted to approve the incremental, annual addition of grades nine through 12 into the district. With the opening of the new building, Coupland ISD will include a ninth grade.
The following year, the school will add 10th grade. By the year 2030, Coupland will see its first graduating class since 1946.
Coupland ISD is currently in the construction process of what was originally slated to be a new middle school with a completion date set for the 2026-27 school year.
During the May school board meeting, Superintendent Earl Parcell stunned trustees as he explained how the new structure could expand its use to be both a middle school and a high school. In the form of surveys, some parents and community members expressed concern that adding a high school would cost the taxpayers more money, but Parcell allayed those fears.
“Not an additional penny would be needed to build this facility,” Parcell said.
The largest and most costly expense, the new school building, is already paid for with bond money. Parcell’s idea for the expansion of the high school is to find ways to utilize the space Coupland had already planned for in the middle school with the possible addition of a portable or metal building.
Trustee Andrew Gonzalez questioned the finances involved for the portable or metal building, but Parcell directed the trustees to the construction spreadsheet in their packets which showed Coupland ISD still has an unused portion of bond money.
“We can build this metal building with the interest,” Parcell said.
Depending on the needs of the school district, bond money can be used for land acquisition, school building renovations, construction, and the purchase of items like school buses or technology.
“We can’t use that money to buy football equipment because that’s bond money,” Parcell said.
Bond money cannot be used on school supplies, equipment, salaries or other operating costs. The money, however, could be spent on a metal building, which Parcell prefers to a portable unit because “it will be a permanent structure.”
Other discussion centered on the name of the combined middle school and high school, rebranding of the schools’ mascots and logos and the high school curriculum.
