The Coppell ISD budget crisis has brought many changes to the district this year. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in daily life in Coppell. Photo illustration by Sukirtha Muthiah and Ainsley Dwyer
The Coppell ISD budget crisis has brought many changes to the district this year. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in daily life in Coppell. Photo illustration by Sukirtha Muthiah and Ainsley Dwyer
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Coppell as we knew it

Budget crisis signifying city shift
Byline photo of Nyah Rama
Nyah Rama, Editorial Page Editor
February 20, 2025
Coppell Middle School North on Feb.5. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell's daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri

I was 9 when I moved to Coppell. After four years of moving from district to district, my parents were looking for a more permanent home and, like many others, they were drawn to Coppell because of the schools.

Coppell ISD boasted a quality education on nearly every website one could find. The teachers were excellent, the coursework was rigorous, the programs were exemplary and unavailable at most other schools and, of course, the students got top grades. 

Coppell Middle School North on Feb.5. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell’s daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri (Kushal Rambhapuri)
Cypress Waters on the morning of Feb. 5. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell's daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri

Aside, Coppell itself seemed like the perfect not-so-small-town suburb in which you would ideally want your child to be raised. The homes were big and plentiful and the stores were both franchises and mom-and-pop types, giving the town everything one could want.

When we moved here from New Jersey, it seemed like that perfect utopia would never change – that things would stay this way forever. And they very nearly did, until this school year, that is.

Cypress Waters on the morning of Feb. 5. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell’s daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri (Kushal Rambhapuri)
The pit in Coppell High School on Feb. 6. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell's daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri

In September, Coppell’s budget crisis was at the forefront of staff and students’ minds. Each day, there was seemingly a new question to be asked and a new decision to be made. Coppell High School was abuzz.

“Is Pinkerton going to close?”

“If New Tech is closed, would those students come here?”

“No wonder the teachers seem so stressed about attendance.”

Everyone had something to say. Even in my classes, we were fretting about the CISD Board of Trustees cutting the International Baccalaureate program here at CHS.

The pit in Coppell High School on Feb. 6. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell’s daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri (Kushal Rambhapuri)






The Coppell ISD budget crisis has brought many changes to the district for the 2024-25 school year. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell’s daily life. Photos by Kayla Nguyen and Kushal Rambhapuri

As the situation evolved over the past few months and more and more programs seemed to be on the chopping block, it got me thinking, what will Coppell look like in 10 years?

The question is a simple one, but the answer seems complex and requires serious thought. After all, it seems impossible to imagine anything other than what has been over the past several years.

The question kept coming back to me time and time again, and I began to realize that the Coppell of the future will not mirror the one of the past. While residents and students may have initially brushed the budget issues off as a small obstacle to overcome, it signifies that life in Coppell has already begun to change.






The Coppell ISD budget crisis has brought many changes to the district for the 2024-25 school year. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell’s daily life. Photos by Vibha Viswanath and Kushal Rambhapuri

Think about it. New Tech High @ Coppell was nearly closed, Pinkerton Elementary School will close after this school year, the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election did not pass and the board continues to explore options to manage its budget deficit. The funding gap is just too large to close and soon the programs that we love, such as IB and Career and Technical Education courses, could be cut as well. Not only this, but there is a growing housing problem in Coppell. People are not moving out and, therefore, there is a lack of housing for sale for families with young children.

All things considered, in the next decade Coppell’s once bountiful and young population could shift, attracting more of the older crowd and all those programs and features we loved will merely be memories of the past, the golden age of our beloved town. Businesses we love, such as TeaLatte and Fengcha, could close and new ones servicing an aging population could move in, families may move in search of better opportunities for their children and more and more schools might close as few children remain to fill them. While Coppell may never become a ghost town, what is left could certainly be an aged, far cry from what it once was.

North Lake Ranch Park on Feb.5. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell's daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri

Though I am graduating in May and these decisions nor their aftermath will not affect me, I think of my friends in lower grade levels who will begin to live in this alternate reality and future generations who will never get to have the same opportunities and experiences we did. 

If we do not act now in some form or fashion, if we do not begin to care more and fight for our children’s futures, then life as we know it in Coppell will cease to exist. I do not want to come back for my high school reunion in a few decades and find myself reminiscing with old friends about Coppell as we knew it.

I implore you all to get involved, to find out more and remain aware, giving this budget crisis the gravity it deserves.

When we come together under one goal we can make a difference, and that, no matter the outcome, is the Coppell I want to remember.

Follow Nyah (@nyah_rama) and @CHSCampusNews on X.

North Lake Ranch Park on Feb.5. The Sidekick editorial page editor Nyah Rama thinks these changes indicate a shift in Coppell’s daily life. Photo by Kushal Rambhapuri (Kushal Rambhapuri)
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