As bond election day quickly approaches, Coppell lawns and street corners have seen a surge of “vote yes” and opposing “blank check” signs. Following weeks of early voting, the proposal has become a buzzing issue in the community.

On Saturday, the community’s voice will be put to a regular vote not only on the $249 million bond that proposes to convert Coppell Middle School West into a freshman center and build a new West in Cypress Waters, but on the new members of the Board of Trustees as well.

“The community has recognized that it’s an important issue, and have felt compelled to get involved,  which is a good thing,” CISD Director of Communications & Public Relations Tamerah Ringo said. “It’s been pretty evident with the early voter turnout numbers, they’ve been very strong, over 4,000.”

With a clear position on the bond, Coppell resident Kim Mobley early voted the first chance she got.

“All of the members of the bond committee and CISD have done long, thorough research and put lots of thought into what they have come up with and I fully support them,” Mobley said.

Although the bond is the largest ever proposed by the city, Mobley thinks this is a necessary response to other changes in the Coppell area.

“They’re doing a lot more things with the money,” Mobley said. “The debate has been, ‘are they wants or are they needs?’ Well, I have lived in this district for 26 years and I have never in my life seen homes where they’re building homes. Four hundred plus homes are being built within the ISD border that are in Irving and then Cypress Waters. Lots of things are changing.”

Besides the signs in her front yard, Mobley has also shared her pro-bond platform on social media and by talking to members of her community.

“That’s why people move to this community, for our school district,” Mobley said. “We’re one of the top ones in the area, in the state, and we need to continue to be the forefront of education.”

Also in favor of the bond, Coppell citizen Hillary Gorman thinks the city is in desperate need for a secondary solution to handle growth.

“I think it sounds like a good solution,” Gorman said. “It’s specific enough but there’s enough flexibility that we can make decisions as we go along. I also have a lot of the school board to oversee that it’s happening on schedule.”

Following a lot of homework, Gorman’s support for the bond didn’t stop when she early voted, as she found a way to get her community involved as well.

“I had a lot of faith in some of the committee members so I invited some of them to my house and had some 20 some people come as well and learn details,” Gorman said.

Gorman found the 2013 bond lacking in follow up information. However, the new bond seems to have presented a solution.

“It would be nice to go back in there and say ‘yes, this was done, this was not, this was put on hold, Gorman said. “It sounds like there will be a committee following this bond, if it passes, with community members that will do that.”

On the other side of the Bond question, Coppell resident Mike Wilcox is worried it may not be worth the cost.

Wilcox projects the bond will be a 30-40 year payout, bringing up problems down the road.

“It’s funny because if you look at the ‘Vote Yes’ signs they say ‘for the kids,’” Wilcox said. “If they stay here in Coppell and their parents leave to retire somewhere else, they’re going to pay for it, which is kind of ironic. We are dumping the debt on our children is what we’re doing.”

To get his position out in the community, Wilcox and a group of other residents formed a Political Action Committee.

“We said let’s take it project-by-project, ‘build a new elementary school, OK, $50 million,’” Wilcox said. “If they need another school, we do it project-by-project so we have more control over where the money goes versus just a blank check.”

While Wilcox still thinks schools and education are most important, he also weighs the possible consequences.

“The population is aging, they’re going to leave, so now you got less taxpayers and now that means tax rates have to go up,” Wilcox said. “Technology is driving a virtual classroom meaning you don’t need a physical building, and we’re going to spend $250 million. There’s a lot of strange things happening there.”

Also displaying a “blank check” sign in her yard, Coppell resident Becky Nolde-hurlbert has casted an early vote on the bond.

“They have grandiose ideas and some things that are not necessary and so that’s why I don’t think we should pay it, plus the bond from the previous election still is not paid off,” Nolde-hurlbert said.

Nolde-hurlbert has turned her attention toward the payoff the bond would invoke and how that would affect the community.

“We have high tax rates already, and to make it higher, that’s going to make people not want to live here,” Nolde-hurlbert said.

For Nolde-hurlbert, the other aspects of the bond take away from the solutions to issues in the community, such as growth.

“We need to look at what money should be put towards what’s really necessary,” Nolde-hurlbert said. “If we need a ninth grade center, that’s fine, just not all of these other extravagant things.”

To vote on May 7, Coppell residents can visit Coppell Town Center at 255 Parkway Blvd. from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Sidekick will announce the results of all elections as soon as they are made available.