COPPERAS COVE – As part of Copperas Cove ISD’s process to better align programs and staffing, trustees have now approved a new leader for key programs.
Tuesday night, as part of the new hires list presented to the board, trustees unanimously approved Robert Turner as the district’s new Director of Career & Technical Education, overseeing the implementation and growth of a variety of career programs.
"I am honored to step into the role of Director of CTE for Copperas Cove ISD,” Turner said. “CCISD has incredible students and dedicated educators, and I am excited for the opportunity to continue building a strong and successful CTE program. Our goal is to provide students with meaningful, high-quality experiences that prepare them for future careers and postsecondary success."
For the past five years, Turner has worked as the associate principal at Copperas Cove High School, where he’s overseen the campus’ CTE efforts. Prior to that, he was an assistant principal and interim principal at Copperas Cove Jr. High for four years after spending his first four years in CCISD teaching science at S.C. Lee Jr. High.
“Skills, crafts and trades are essential to ensuring that our students are prepared and ready for life beyond their school experiences,” said Superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins. “For the majority of high school students, they are looking in this direction to provide them with job opportunities for a livable wage or stackable credentials toward further education. We are working swiftly and thoroughly to ensure that nobody does a better job at providing these opportunities than CCISD, and I’m not only excited to see Mr. Turner work to accomplish this, I look forward to working with him toward this goal and am excited to be part of transforming this alignment for our students.”
While Turner oversaw CTE at CCHS, he helped the campus’ 2024 graduating class to a 98% College, Career & Military Preparedness mark, as measured by TEA accountability standards. That is the highest mark in school history.
“We are excited to see our career programs continue not only flourish under Mr. Turner’s leadership, but grow,” Hawkins said. “We look forward to seeing how Mr. Turner works within our facility challenges to ensure we continue to offer a variety of relevant career pathways and opportunities for our students, helping to prepare them for life after high school.”
Turner will begin in his new role in time for the 2025-26 school year.
Additionally, trustees approved a contract to retain Goodwin Lasiter, or GLS, as the district’s new architect. This new agreement is aimed at giving the district a fresh perspective in addressing future facility needs for students in Copperas Cove.
“We know that we will need to address the facility struggles our district, and therefore our students, face every day,” Hawkins said. “GLS has a reputation for working in a variety of manners and maximizing financial value in tight budgets. We look forward to seeing how they are able to guide our community in ensuring each of the district’s almost-8,000 students has an appropriate learning facility.”
The board also approved the 2025-26 school calendar. The approved calendar will see new teachers to CCISD report on July 29th, with the remainder of teachers reporting for the year on July 30th. Students will begin class on Thurs., Aug. 14th.
The calendar includes a four-day weekend on Oct. 10th-13th and Nov. 8th-11th. Staff will have a four-day weekend with a five-day student weekend Feb. 12th-16th and April 2nd-6th.
Thanksgiving Break is scheduled for Nov. 24th-28th with Christmas Break scheduled for Dec. 22nd-Jan. 2nd and Spring Break March 16th-20th.
Students will return from Christmas Break on Jan. 6th.
Trustees also approved a $500 recruitment stipend for non-hiring employees who recruit professional staff members to Copperas Cove ISD. There is no limit to how many of these stipends an individual staff member can receive.
“Our goal is that we can attract quality people to our district because they know someone who loves making an impact in Bulldawg country,” Hawkins said. “We hope that our staff and community see the value in being able to recruit high-quality teachers and administrators to our district and improve how we are able to serve students.”
This stipend is payable to employees each September.
The Board of Trustees is next scheduled to hold its regular April workshop and meeting. The workshop is scheduled for Noon on April 7th, with the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on April 8th. Both meetings will take place in the Board Room, located at the District Service & Training Center on South Main Street.
Agendas are posted outside the District Service & Training Center 72 hours prior to each meeting. Once posted, they can be viewed at CCISD.com/SchoolBoard.