Originally, there were plans to convert the existing middle school off US 377 into a second high school as a strategy to mitigate capacity issues once Argyle High School approached Class 6A University Interscholastic League classification status. However, with the new revisions, AISD will split into two high schools prior to reaching the classification, Superintendent Courtney Carpenter said. The UIL performs reclassifications and realignments every two years to determine the district level in which a school's athletic teams can compete. Class 6A is the state’s largest classification, and district community members have spoken out against large graduating classes since 2022.
Additionally, the board approved the revision to align the future high school split in the middle of the two-year UIL realignment, as determined most appropriate for student success, Carpenter said.
“The middle of an alignment is where you should enter into,” she said. “Because then you have the advantage of getting everybody acclimated.”
This is especially impactful for football, which cannot enter into a new district in the middle of a two-year alignment. Therefore, were the district to open a school at the beginning of an alignment, it would have to either run a varsity football schedule with only ninth and 10th graders for two years or go without varsity football altogether, Carpenter said.
