In light of recent events, Coppell ISD’s Board of Trustees meeting on Monday started almost immediately with a comment from the board, assuring the safety of students at CISD. 

An altercation between two students at Coppell Middle School North gained immense social media traction, making national headlines. CISD, in response, has worked to reinforce anti-bullying policies through the usage of STOPit, an application that allows students to report harmful incidents to faculty in real-time. Further staff training will occur to ensure understanding of student safety protocols.

“Student safety is a top priority,” CISD Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt said. “STOPit is a program that works and it has helped us in many instances step in and peacefully handle issues before they escalate. We’ll be conducting additional training and retraining of our staff to ensure that we have full understanding of our safety protocols with proven tools to address anger and conflict. This is a very top priority” 

Bullying was a topic also mentioned in the open forum by Nancy Martin, a CISD parent concerned with CISD’s bullying policies. 

“I am concerned of the safety of my boys at Denton Creek,” Martin said. “Multiple incidents of assault have happened in their classroom this year and administration has been unwilling to take appropriate actions to solve it. Bullying in school has never been addressed properly.”

Appreciation for CISD was also offered in the open forum. Three open forum speakers applauded CISD for their caring teachers and hard work put into supporting students. 

“The older of [my] boys has special needs,” Dan Koller said. “We aspire for my son to live independently someday and earlier this month the staff of the department of intervention services arranged a tour for us and other special needs families at a facility in Waxahachie where a kid like my son could conceivably live independently. This is just the latest example of how CISD has taken care of us and all of the various challenges that come with this very special boy.”

CISD is implementing a multitude of summer programs. Some of these programs, such as the Elementary and Middle School Summer Bridge Programs, will be funded through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER). ESSER funds are used to help support students and address the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on learners. These summer programs are aimed to help engage students and aid their learning by focusing on English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and mathematics. 

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