Cove schools' numbers increase

By Rebecca LaFlure Killeen Daily Herald COPPERAS COVE - While students from the Copperas Cove Independent School District returned to their regular school schedule Tuesday after a two-week holiday break, Deputy ...

[voice of reason]

I think the reason our School district is growing while Killeen is shrinking is because we have better Schools.
I can't wait to get more Built, so that others stationed at Fort Hood can choose Copperas Cove to live and send their Kids to our Great Schools.
This is a great way to repay them for all they do for us.
Lets make them better schools it's the least we can do.

[Lily]

The things those builders in Copperas Cove will say to try and change the thought process on the politically ravaged town to try and regain control of the town.

The builders didn't like their mayor so they just had hired an out of town attorney to help the city attorney oust him. Ask someone from Copperas Cove who is their city attorney now.

Copperas Cove does not need to worry about Killeen.

[Retired 1SG]

VoR: I guess you want your taxes to go through the roof. Let's build, build and build some more.
I agree our school district is great, much better than Killeen's.
But if we're going to build new schools we have to do it carefully. Killeen has been building new schools now for the past decade and they overestimated. Now they have schools sitting empty.

[Peterson]

There is a committe being put together to take a look at this issue Retired 1SG would you like to be on it ?

Retired 1SG wrote:

VoR: I guess you want your taxes to go through the roof. Let's build, build and build some more.
I agree our school district is great, much better than Killeen's.
But if we're going to build new schools we have to do it carefully. Killeen has been building new schools now for the past decade and they overestimated. Now they have schools sitting empty.

[Rodger]

I understand KISD is proposing to close a school located on Ft Hood for next school year. Maybe CISD could lease this facility instead of building a new one.

[Peterson]

Worth looking into that's for sure.

Rodger wrote:

I understand KISD is proposing to close a school located on Ft Hood for next school year. Maybe CISD could lease this facility instead of building a new one.

[Retired 1SG]

Rodger wrote:

I understand KISD is proposing to close a school located on Ft Hood for next school year. Maybe CISD could lease this facility instead of building a new one.

Fort Hood's student population falls under Killeen Independent School District. Killeen gets Impact Aid money for that. Doubt if Killeen would be willing to lease us one of their schools.

[Peterson]

We also receive quit a bit of impact aid right here in cove also.

Retired 1SG wrote:

<quoted text>
Fort Hood's student population falls under Killeen Independent School District. Killeen gets Impact Aid money for that. Doubt if Killeen would be willing to lease us one of their schools.

[wthomas]

Retired 1SG wrote:

<quoted text>
Fort Hood's student population falls under Killeen Independent School District. Killeen gets Impact Aid money for that. Doubt if Killeen would be willing to lease us one of their schools.

Top,I didn't think they would get Impact Funds based on the building. I could be wrong but as I understand it, Impact Funds are based on the military dependant student count on the building itself. I think if the students were sent to another KISD school then KISD would still get the impact funds and the vacant building would be religated to being just that, a vacant building. If we have the military dependant kids that could fill the building and I would certainly look into the idea of leasing it form KISD. I assume, and all us old soldiers know what assume means, there would be no problem with leasing the building if it was a building that would stand vacant vs getting revenue from a renter. We should get a heck of a deal on it if that's the case. Surely there is not a lot of renters standing in line to rent a school building on Hood.

[voice of reason]

Retired 1SG wrote:

VoR: I guess you want your taxes to go through the roof. Let's build, build and build some more.
I agree our school district is great, much better than Killeen's.
But if we're going to build new schools we have to do it carefully. Killeen has been building new schools now for the past decade and they overestimated. Now they have schools sitting empty.

I don't know that our taxes would go up if we built a new school do you?
I do know that if we build enough homes the tax revenue could support a new school.
I believe we should at least try to do our best for our Military citizens' kids. They do so much for us.
I know I don't mind a few dollars on my Tax bill , its the least we can do.
Some of them put their lives on the line for our Country.
What happened to all of us showing our support?
We need them to know that we care about them and their families.

[wthomas]

Lily wrote:

The things those builders in Copperas Cove will say to try and change the thought process on the politically ravaged town to try and regain control of the town.
The builders didn't like their mayor so they just had hired an out of town attorney to help the city attorney oust him. Ask someone from Copperas Cove who is their city attorney now.
Copperas Cove does not need to worry about Killeen.

Here we go again. I am not being a smart guy when I say this I mean it from the heart. What's the deal in Cove with the builders? Did these guys seek in the middle of the night an shoot a bunch of puppies? I hear some people in this town say the builders try to run the city. I should hope the builders, attornies, real estate salespeople, barbers, Walmart checkers, janitors, teachers and all the other Cove citizens are trying to run the city. They are all tax paying hard working citizens of an American town. Is it not their job to run their own government in every town in America? What have this specific group of tax paying hard working people actually done that has the anti government group so up in arms. No question that for lack of any major industry complex the builders are probably the biggest tax payers in Cove and I'm sure they would like to protect the way they and their workers make a living as best they can. It should be understood that when folks pick out an industry to jump on they are not jumping on the rich owners and exectutives in the industry they are directly attacking blue collar neighbors. The anti building people are attempting to put hard working carpenters, bricklayers, paper hangers, dozer operators, sheet rock guys and hundreds of other employees of the industry out of work. Please don't embarrass yourselves by denying this obvious fact. That leads back to the original question. What has this industry done to hurt the people of Cove? Its an honest question and I an sincerely curious. What's the difference in someone who's living is made by building better and newer buildings in our town. I actually heard one guy blaming the builders for the slums that we have. Folks to say that the builders are responsible for the new buildings they build eventually getting old is a tad beyond my ability to reason. Basicly we are saying don't replace the old buildings with new buildings because someday they won't be new anymore. I the same reasoning would appy to blaming a barber for cutting your hair because it grew long agian. So lets not get any hair cuts in Cove because the barbers will only give us hair cuts that will someday need cutting again. Perhaps we should stop giving our kids baths because they'll just get diry again. Mine always did. I'm sure somehow I could have blamed that on the people who sold me soap but I really don't grasp how. I don't have the first tie to any builder in Cove. I'm sure I'll probably live in the house my bride and I have retired to here until my Father calls me home. I have not ever made a dime off any builder in Cove nor anyone who sells sun glasses or hambergers for that matter. I just am curious as to why (plese be specific) as to what these evil people have done to our community. I have never heard the word "builder" in a negative context until I moved to Cove. Perhaps someone has a real and logical reason these are bad guys (besides jealousy of their income) but I have not heard anything except basic class warfare and meaningless generalities.
It could be that the anti builder folks are correct. I honestly don't know but to date there's been a lot of smoke but I havn't seen any fire at all.

[Retired 1SG]

wthomas wrote:

<quoted text>Top,I didn't think they would get Impact Funds based on the building. I could be wrong but as I understand it, Impact Funds are based on the military dependant student count on the building itself. I think if the students were sent to another KISD school then KISD would still get the impact funds and the vacant building would be religated to being just that, a vacant building. If we have the military dependant kids that could fill the building and I would certainly look into the idea of leasing it form KISD. I assume, and all us old soldiers know what assume means, there would be no problem with leasing the building if it was a building that would stand vacant vs getting revenue from a renter. We should get a heck of a deal on it if that's the case. Surely there is not a lot of renters standing in line to rent a school building on Hood.

Well ok, Bill, you're probably right. But why in the world would we want to lease an empty school building from KISD that sits on Fort Hood or West Fort Hood (don't even know if West Fort Hood has a school on the reservation). If they closed a school and consolidated the students into another one I'm sure you're right they would continue to get that IMPACT aid for them.
So why would CCISD want to lease a school from KISD that is located on post?? All those kids who live on post go to school on post or Shoemaker.

[Retired 1SG]

voice of reason wrote:

<quoted text>
I don't know that our taxes would go up if we built a new school do you?
I do know that if we build enough homes the tax revenue could support a new school.
I believe we should at least try to do our best for our Military citizens' kids. They do so much for us.
I know I don't mind a few dollars on my Tax bill , its the least we can do.
Some of them put their lives on the line for our Country.
What happened to all of us showing our support?
We need them to know that we care about them and their families.

As all the new houses start paying taxes to CCISD, they probably would finance a new school.
That new city out off of Summers Rd would be a prime place for a new elementary school and, maybe, even an intermediate school or junior high.

[Yellow Rose]

wthomas wrote:

<quoted text>Here we go again. I am not being a smart guy when I say this I mean it from the heart. What's the deal in Cove with the builders? Did these guys seek in the middle of the night an shoot a bunch of puppies? I hear some people in this town say the builders try to run the city. I should hope the builders, attornies, real estate salespeople, barbers, Walmart checkers, janitors, teachers and all the other Cove citizens are trying to run the city. They are all tax paying hard working citizens of an American town. Is it not their job to run their own government in every town in America? What have this specific group of tax paying hard working people actually done that has the anti government group so up in arms. No question that for lack of any major industry complex the builders are probably the biggest tax payers in Cove and I'm sure they would like to protect the way they and their workers make a living as best they can. It should be understood that when folks pick out an industry to jump on they are not jumping on the rich owners and exectutives in the industry they are directly attacking blue collar neighbors. The anti building people are attempting to put hard working carpenters, bricklayers, paper hangers, dozer operators, sheet rock guys and hundreds of other employees of the industry out of work. Please don't embarrass yourselves by denying this obvious fact. That leads back to the original question. What has this industry done to hurt the people of Cove? Its an honest question and I an sincerely curious. What's the difference in someone who's living is made by building better and newer buildings in our town. I actually heard one guy blaming the builders for the slums that we have. Folks to say that the builders are responsible for the new buildings they build eventually getting old is a tad beyond my ability to reason. Basicly we are saying don't replace the old buildings with new buildings because someday they won't be new anymore. I the same reasoning would appy to blaming a barber for cutting your hair because it grew long agian. So lets not get any hair cuts in Cove because the barbers will only give us hair cuts that will someday need cutting again. Perhaps we should stop giving our kids baths because they'll just get diry again. Mine always did. I'm sure somehow I could have blamed that on the people who sold me soap but I really don't grasp how. I don't have the first tie to any builder in Cove. I'm sure I'll probably live in the house my bride and I have retired to here until my Father calls me home. I have not ever made a dime off any builder in Cove nor anyone who sells sun glasses or hambergers for that matter. I just am curious as to why (plese be specific) as to what these evil people have done to our community. I have never heard the word "builder" in a negative context until I moved to Cove. Perhaps someone has a real and logical reason these are bad guys (besides jealousy of their income) but I have not heard anything except basic class warfare and meaningless generalities.
It could be that the anti builder folks are correct. I honestly don't know but to date there's been a lot of smoke but I havn't seen any fire at all.

AMEN

[Yellow Rose]

Retired 1SG wrote:

<quoted text>
Well ok, Bill, you're probably right. But why in the world would we want to lease an empty school building from KISD that sits on Fort Hood or West Fort Hood (don't even know if West Fort Hood has a school on the reservation). If they closed a school and consolidated the students into another one I'm sure you're right they would continue to get that IMPACT aid for them.
So why would CCISD want to lease a school from KISD that is located on post?? All those kids who live on post go to school on post or Shoemaker.

I hope CCISD never leases a school from KISD on post. I just don't think that would be a good idea. Bussing alone would be extremely costly. Also, can you imagine the turmoil that would be caused by rezoning again, so that some of our students have a 15 - 20 minute extra long bus ride.

[Retired 1SG]

Someone on here commented earlier about how crowded the Fairview/Miss Jewell campus is.
I admit I don't know the figures, but these schools being built right next to each other have never made sense to me. I realize that CCISD had all that land (where the bus barn is) and we needed another school so up goes Miss Jewell.
But now that they've been renovated and "improved" they share a cafeteria. Each used to have its' own.
Does anyone know if they share the gymnasium. I remember when neither had a gym.
If we need to build a new school, we need to use our brains and put a second story on it. Sure wouldn't cost as much as two schools and would have nearly twice the classroom space.

[Yellow Rose]

Retired 1SG wrote:

Someone on here commented earlier about how crowded the Fairview/Miss Jewell campus is.
I admit I don't know the figures, but these schools being built right next to each other have never made sense to me. I realize that CCISD had all that land (where the bus barn is) and we needed another school so up goes Miss Jewell.
But now that they've been renovated and "improved" they share a cafeteria. Each used to have its' own.
Does anyone know if they share the gymnasium. I remember when neither had a gym.
If we need to build a new school, we need to use our brains and put a second story on it. Sure wouldn't cost as much as two schools and would have nearly twice the classroom space.

Fairview and Miss Jewell each have their own cafeterias, gyms, offices. Both are able to be their own school. However, because CCISD has chosen to Pr K through 5th grade at the Elementary level, they merged some of the schools together. Fairview and Miss Jewell, Ledger and J.L Williams, and then CR Clements and Hollie Parsons.
Miss Jewell and Fairview have been here a long time. I went to Fairview for second and third grade then went to Miss Jewell for 4th grade. At the time the schools were built each had a different set of grade levels in them. When I went to Miss Jewell back in the seventies, we did not have that big cafeteria or a gym. There were two portables in the back for music and art. When I went to Fairview, we had PE outside under a pavillion type structure. From what I recall, the schools were further apart then they seem now.
With the increase in Pr-K students and students overall, they expanded Miss Jewell. So they look as if they are almost touching. Last year was their first year to be merged into one school. The Fairview wing houses Pr-K through 1st and Miss Jewell houses 2nd through 5th. The school has one principal and two vice-principals.
I know all this because both my kids attend that school.

[Yellow Rose]

The Fairview wing had a Kindergarten concert in the Fairview wing's cafeteria. There were so many kids not all could fit on the stage. So many parents, standing room only. When the concert was it was pure caos. Some kids started to cry because they couldn't find their parents in the crowd.
The problem I see, is CCISD added more classrooms, but never increase the size of the cafeteria, parking lot, etc.

Oh, I didn't mention both schools have their own libraries.

[Donald]

wthomas wrote:

<quoted text>Top,I didn't think they would get Impact Funds based on the building. I could be wrong but as I understand it, Impact Funds are based on the military dependant student count on the building itself. I think if the students were sent to another KISD school then KISD would still get the impact funds and the vacant building would be religated to being just that, a vacant building. If we have the military dependant kids that could fill the building and I would certainly look into the idea of leasing it form KISD. I assume, and all us old soldiers know what assume means, there would be no problem with leasing the building if it was a building that would stand vacant vs getting revenue from a renter. We should get a heck of a deal on it if that's the case. Surely there is not a lot of renters standing in line to rent a school building on Hood.

So Copperas Cove, a city built for family living is going to ship it's kids half way to Killeen to save a few bucks. I don't think so. You really should think before you run your mouth.

You are blowing smoke the wrong way now fellow.

[Retired 1SG]

I'm kind of partial to Fairview - both my kids went there for K-4th grade. I remember PE classes outside under that "pavillion" and later inside in really nothing more than a large garage they constructed. The new gym was a great addition.
Lots of good memories of them at Fairview a long time ago.