COPPERAS COVE, Texas (KXXV) — The Copperas Cove Independent School District Board of Trustees approved repairs Tuesday night that will bring Williams/Ledger Elementary School closer to reopening after flood damage over the summer.
The board approved three major purchases during its regular November meeting: 96 new HVAC units for the campus, new servers and speakers, and cabling infrastructure to support technology needs when students return.
"These three repairs will allow us to continue making progress in the reconstruction after heavy rains in early July caused heavy damage to the campus. The new HVAC units replace units which were beginning to come to the end of their life cycles and weren't reparable, and will make the campus like-new once repairs are completed."
Heavy rains in early July damaged the elementary school campus. The district declared the damage an emergency on Aug. 12 and began working with the Texas Association of School Boards' Risk Management Fund on repairs.
The new servers, speakers and cabling will replace equipment destroyed in the flood, according to Hawkins.
"(This will allow) students to continue experiencing the high-quality, modern education they are accustomed to," he said.
Repairs are on track for students and staff to return to the campus for the start of the 2026-27 school year.
The board also approved a contract with New Direction Solutions to provide Speech Language Pathologist Assistant services across the district until a permanent hire is made.
"Every district in Texas is struggling to find special education staff, unfortunately," Hawkins said. "This action taken by our special ed leadership and approved by the board allows us to make sure staffing struggles don't keep our students from the growth they and their families expect."
Trustees also approved submitting 91 teachers for Teacher Incentive Allotment designations through the state's data validation process. The state will review designations for 24 recognized teachers, 49 exemplary teachers and 18 master teachers.
Approved designations are valid for five years and should be awarded in mid-spring 2026.
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