The winter weather event last month did more than incite power outages and freezing temperatures. After the brunt of the storm was over, the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees reported damages to about 15 CISD facilities, including athletic and administration buildings. 

Richard J. Lee Elementary is currently closed for mitigation and has temporarily relocated its students and staff to Valley Ranch Elementary until conditions are safe enough to return, which is expected to be after spring break. 

Because risky road conditions and unreliable power did not allow CISD students to attend school from Feb. 16-19, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has allowed CISD to submit a Missed School Day Waiver. The board approved this waiver which will prevent CISD from having to make changes to the school calendar in order to meet the required minutes of education per year. 

Despite inclement weather, many CISD employees made it to their respective campuses in order to help with miscellaneous tasks. The board approved the expenditure of district funds for the pay period of Feb. 13-19 in order to compensate these employees for their work. 

“During a leak situation with water damage, time is of the essence and because of the swift response [from employees], our damages were not to the level as some of our neighboring districts,” CISD Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt said. “The efforts of everybody that helped keep the operations of the district moving forward was huge.”

Aside from the winter storms, the Board discussed the December 2020 End-Of-Year (EOC) STAAR results. During the 2019-2020 school year, STAAR exams had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many academic records were not updated last year, but the reports that were collected surrounding the Algebra I, English I and Biology EOCs show that the passing standard of all three dropped significantly from 2019 to 2020 likely due to the lack of in-person instruction and learning barriers in the spring semester.

CISD director of intervention services and special education Stephanie Flores informed the board that the number of students with learning disabilities has increased from 5.4 percent to 8.4 percent since 2016. Remote learning students with learning disabilities who are falling behind in school are being asked to meet with administrators and parents to discuss the transfer to in-person learning. 

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