Starting in the 2026-27 school year, Coppell High School’s campus will house two fully functioning schools.
In May, the Coppell ISD Efficiency Review Committee (CERC) recommended a consolidation of New Tech High @ Coppell with the CHS campus. On Aug. 11, the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees approved this recommendation for next school year.
New Tech holds a unique position in the district, providing project-based learning for high school students.
“I really love the close-knit community that we have,” New Tech senior Sydney Wood said. “We have so many great people in our school and what I want to see the most in the future is that we keep that bond and our unique traditions. ”
According to New Tech Principal Zane Porter, the community and Board of Trustees have discussed the campus’s future since he began working in CISD in 2015. However, in light of the budget deficit CISD is working through, New Tech’s relocation was considered an actionable option last year.
CISD does not consider New Tech closed but rather reimagined for the future.
“A lot of people are saying New Tech is closed but that is not what’s happening,” Porter said. “All that is going to change is the building where New Tech is, and the school is still alive and well.”
Last fall, former Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt and assistant superintendent Dr. Angie Brooks met with Porter proposing ideas for New Tech’s future.
“The first time I thought, ‘oh, this could actually happen’ was at the end of last fall,” Porter said. “They had conversations with me about what we could turn New Tech into knowing of the budgeting issues that we’re having as a district.”
In the Aug. 11 meeting, it was suggested that New Tech runs on its own bell schedule as a way to mediate traffic flow. The relocation aims to save the district $500,000 annually, mainly by cutting down transportation costs to CHS for various electives.
“We are going to figure out how to respect them and give them their space to hold their culture,” Coppell High School Principal Laura Springer said. “A lot of students from New Tech already come to CHS because they are in our choirs, theater or sports so I think only a handful of them are going to have to adapt to how large our school is.”
Next year, New Tech will occupy classrooms currently downstairs and parts of upstairs D hall not currently occupied as special education classrooms.
“It is going to be an adjustment for all of us,” Springer said. “The far end of our building is going to be redone for them and they will also have their own entrance.”
According to Porter, with Coppell High School’s Fine Arts building set to open in October, this frees up space for renovations in F and H hall, where some current CTE courses will be housed next year.
Porter said he expects New Tech’s staff size to reduce with the relocation. However, students from both schools will share custodians, the cafeteria and nurse.
“Our staff size is going to be determined based on the academics that we chose to focus on going forward,” Porter said. “Our academics are going to be focused in a slightly different way than we have in the past but we haven’t come up with that ‘thing’ yet.”
New Tech’s relocation is a sentiment of adaptability school districts have to work through under current government funding for public education.
Together, Springer and Porter ensure a sense of unity, regardless of what school a student is a part of.
“Both CHS and New Tech have sacrificed something in order to keep our school alive,” Porter said. “So if I’m in the CHS hallway and can help a learner I’m going to do it because all learners in CISD are my learners. And I know Ms. Springer believes the exact same thing.”
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