Questions

A bond is similar to a home mortgage.  It is a contract to repay borrowed money with a stated interest rate over time.  In Texas, most school districts utilize bonds to finance construction, renovations, and equipment.

Years ago, the District purchased 61 acres on CR 460 for a future facility.  This site is the preferred location for proposed campus and is large enough to accommodate a future expansion.

It takes 2-3 years to complete a project from bond passage to move in.

A school district’s tax rate is comprised of two tax rates: the Maintenance & Operations tax (M&O) and the Interest & Sinking tax (I&S). The M&O rate is used to operate the school district, including salaries, utilities, furniture, supplies, food, gas, etc. The I&S rate is used to pay off school bonds. Bond sales only affect the I&S rate.  Coupland ISD’s total tax rate is $0.949708.  The M&O portion is $0.8546 and the I&S portion is $0.095108.

In 2019, voters approved the first bond in the history of the District.  The bond totaled $5M and funded construction of new classrooms, a new administration, the new campus gym, security upgrades, infrastructure upgrades, and parent and bus drive improvements.

No.  If a homeowner receives the Age-65 Freeze on his or her homestead, the school taxes are frozen and cannot be raised above the frozen level unless significant improvements beyond normal repairs or maintenance are made to the home.   Examples of a “significant improvement” would be adding a garage, building a game room, or adding a swimming pool to your property.

No.  The square footages and estimated costs have been determined, but the design would happen after voter approval with teacher, staff, and administrator input on how to best implement Coupland ISD’s program goals.

By law, bond funds cannot be used for payroll expenses or any daily operational costs such as utilities, supplies, fuel, and insurance.  Instead, bond funds can only be used for new buildings, additions and renovations, land acquisition, technology infrastructure and equipment, or school buses.

The Board would revise the proposal and try again in the future.  In the meantime, the Administration would address growth as student enrollment requires.  More portable classrooms will be purchased.

Anyone at least 18 years of age and living within the boundaries of Coupland ISD is eligible to vote.  You must be registered by April 6, 2023 in order to participate in this election.

You can check your voter registration status at www.votetexas.gov.

If you need to update your address, you can simply fill out the change online.

You can find a map of the school district here:  https://www.couplandisd.org/Page/249

Each year, the school board reviews the debt payment and the property values.  The tax rate is adjusted down as the number of people paying taxes increases.  Additionally, as property values grow, each penny of tax levy brings in additional dollars which means that growth in district value allows a district to reduce the tax rate.  District can not even legally levy an I&S rate once all bonds are paid off.

The district will apply for the new instructional facilities allotment if the bond is approved.

We currently have 50 transfer students.  These students are approved only if they do not add a financial burden to the district.

No, we do not charge tuition because we are considered a wealthy school district and charging tuition could result in Coupland sending tax payer money back to the state.

Coupland is identified as a property wealthy district.  The state has a formula where they look at the amount of revenue a district has compared to the number of students enrolled in the district.  If the district is above the threshold, the district has to return revenue to the state to be dispersed to property poor districts.  The transfer students enable Coupland to stay below the threshold keeping all district funds in the district.

There is currently no space to house 100 high school students in the existing building.  The Coupland ISD’s Board of Trustees will have to identify another option.  Options include:

• Finding another district to accept our students
• Leasing building space to house the high school students
• Adding portables on the football field to house high school students
• Reducing the secondary school day to half a day and extending the number of day students attend grades 6-12.  Middle schoolers would attend half day in the morning and high school would attend half day in the afternoon.
• High schoolers can attend school from 4:00 -10:00 pm

A portable was added over spring break to allow for classroom space to educate our special needs students.

The board will have to consider other options.  Some options include:

• Leasing building space to house the high school students
• Adding portables on the football field to house high school students
• Reducing the secondary school day to half a day and extending the number of day students attend grades 6-8.  Half of middle schoolers would attend half day in the morning and the other half would attend half day in the afternoon.