Coupland ISD Voters Reject Tax Rate for New Secondary Campus
Unofficial returns show Proposition A failing 360 to 239 districtwide. The VATRE was meant to help operate the district's first secondary campus in nearly 80 years.
Coupland ISD voters rejected a tax-rate increase meant to help run the district's first secondary campus in nearly 80 years. Unofficial returns from Williamson and Travis counties show Proposition A failing.
The district bills itself as "the BEST little school in Texas, where EXCELLENCE is tradition." On Nov. 3, that little district asked taxpayers for a higher maintenance-and-operations rate and heard no.
On the Williamson County Clarity elections site, last updated at 12:54:47 a.m. CST on Nov. 4 with 1 of 1 Coupland ISD precinct reporting in that county, the measure lost 347 to 231. Daily Aletheia reported Travis County's Coupland ISD portion at 13 against and 8 for in unofficial results updated at 3:37 a.m. CST on Nov. 4. Combined, that is 360 against and 239 for, matching FOX 7 Austin's districtwide unofficial tally of 39.90% for and 60.10% against. By our math on the combined count, the margin is 121 votes. The results remain unofficial until the canvass.
St. Peters United Church of Christ in Coupland, organized in 1894, photographed in 2016. Photo: Darrylpearson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the district asked for
FOX 7 reported that Coupland ISD called the VATRE to help support its first secondary campus in nearly 80 years. Daily Aletheia listed the ballot rate at $1.192200 per $100 of taxable value for the Coupland ISD proposition.
After the results, Superintendent Dr. Earl W. Parcell thanked voters and said the district will keep putting students and staff first. His statement, published by FOX 7, noted that the district's future now includes students starting kindergarten at Coupland Elementary and graduating from Coupland Junior High and High School beginning with the class of 2030.
The district's VATRE page lists Coupland ISD at 620 S. Commerce Street, Coupland, Texas 78615, phone (512) 856-2422. The email listed there is [email protected].
Parents who backed the measure wanted operating room for the new junior high and high school grades. Opponents effectively answered that this rate was not the right fix on this ballot.
What a failed VATRE means
A voter-approval tax rate election is required when a school board adopts a maintenance-and-operations rate above the state threshold. Because Proposition A failed, the higher rate does not take effect under the election order. The district must balance the books for two campuses with the revenue path left after a failed VATRE.
Coupland was not alone. FOX 7's Central Texas roundup found that every VATRE it tracked on this ballot failed, while only Manor ISD passed its bond package among the districts listed.
For a district as small as Coupland, every dollar of the shortfall is felt close to the classroom. The superintendent's note about kindergarten-to-graduation continuity shows why the board asked. The vote shows taxpayers were not ready to ratify that particular rate.
Williamson County carried most of the Coupland ISD ballots in the unofficial count. Travis County's small Coupland ISD slice went the same way. Neither county's file changes the outcome.
Our view
Opening a secondary campus after decades is a real cost. Asking taxpayers to ratify a higher rate is also a real ask. Voters said no. The board should cut waste first, protect classrooms, and come back with a clearer plan if the books still do not close for two campuses.
Hero photo: The historic Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad depot in Coupland, May 2013. Photo: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
