Voters denied two out of three propositions of a nearly $512 million bond last May addressing the district’s rapid enrollment growth with funds allocated for building new schools and athletic complexes and purchasing land for future schools and new technology. The committee included of district staff, parents and community members.
Lewisville ISD Executive Director of Construction and Argyle ISD resident, Randy Fite, presented the recommendation as a member of the bond committee.
With voters in 2024 only passing a proposition for new technology, the 2025 bond committee reconvened to bring forward a new recommendation with objectives mirroring the failed propositions focused on building new schools, purchasing land and campus circulation improvements.
“If you have students coming in and no facilities for them, that's when portables come in,” Fite said.
The details
AISD enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is around 6,100, over 700 more students than the previous school year and over 200 more than expected, according to Zonda Education data. Next year, enrollment is expected to balloon to over 6,600, and the district could serve over 11,000 students by 2033-34, nearly double its current student population.
This growth necessitated a split into multiple middle schools and high schools and as it continues the district must plan to build more campuses to compensate. The committee’s decision was informed by demographic projections and similar to last year's recommendation centered on addressing this rapid growth concentrated most heavily in the middle school level, Fite said.
The recommendation made Jan. 30 outlines $236.5 million for constructing a new elementary school and new middle school as well as design for an additional middle school, Fite said. It also proposes a baseball and softball complex at Argyle High School located off Canyon Falls Drive.
Around $55.2 million is recommended for upgrades to Hilltop Elementary, The Sixth Grade Center and Argyle Middle School on US 377. This also includes a plan to connect academic wings at Argyle High School to improve circulation and foot traffic flow, but does not include capacity improvements, he said.
Additionally, $131.5 million would be allocated toward land acquisition for future school sites, which could be used for additional elementary, middle and high school campuses, or all three. It would also fund bus purchases and technology network infrastructure upgrades, according to district documents.
Zooming in
The district is currently building a middle school on FM 407 using 2022 bond funds, designated as middle school No. 1 since Argyle Middle School on US 377 was AISD’s previous high school. The district plans to turn the current middle school back into a high school and will need to build an additional middle school by 2029 to facilitate the transition. This is designated as middle school No. 2 and is included in the 2025 bond proposition, according to district documents.
“We agreed that we need elementary school number six and middle school number two during this next bond window,” Fite said. “Although building middle school three is not needed right now, it would be wise to complete the design process now, which can take up to two years.”
If the district pushed the design to another bond window, it might fall behind and see overcrowded schools by that time, Fite added.
Should this bond fail, it would make it difficult to build the necessary middle school by 2029 and derail the district’s timeline for splitting into multiple high school and middle schools, district officials said.
With AISD’s projected growth, students could attend classes in portables if new campuses are not built in tandem with AISD’s projected growth, Fite said, which can be an expensive measure that dips into the maintenance and operation budget. The maintenance and operation budget funds daily operations and staff salaries as opposed to the interest and sinking budget, which is comprised of bond funds.
Some context
In the district’s growth plan, the district will transition to two middle schools in the 2026-27 school year and two high schools in the 2027-28 school year.
Argyle Middle School on US 377 once served as the district’s high school before Argyle High School opened in the 2021-22 school year. The district plans to open a second middle school on FM 407 in 2026 and turn the US 377 campus back into a high school in 2027 to provide enrollment relief. Starting in 2027, the US 377 campus will begin to serve high school students alongside its middle school student enrollment with more high school grades to be added each year until it can serve as a dedicated high school in 2029.
The FM 407 campus, which broke ground this summer, is the catalyst for both the high school and middle school transitions. In the 2026-27 school year, seventh and eighth graders will be zoned to both the FM 407 and US 377 campuses. The 2022 bond also allocated funding to build Jane Reustmann Elementary, which opened as the fourth elementary school for AISD last year, a fifth elementary school and requisite land purchase, within a portion of the new Furst Ranch development.
Also of note
The district’s high school baseball and softball teams currently use a complex at Argyle Middle School on US 377. Athletic Director Todd Rodgers emphasized the need for an additional baseball and softball facility given that the district’s plan to split into two high schools would mean that two campuses would share a single facility.
The district is in the process of alleviating a similar pinch point in football by building the new stadium at Argyle High School. Before high school students had to use the stadium at the 377 campus.
“Even if we went back to a single high school concept, there is still a traffic safety issue with students traveling from Argyle High School on Canyon Falls to the US 377 facility,” Rodgers said.
The facilities could also be open for public use, providing additional recreation spaces for community members, Rodgers said.
Going forward
To call a bond for the May election, the board must approve the measure by Feb. 14. The board has scheduled a meeting Feb. 12 for this action and will consider community input over the coming weeks, officials said.
“We really want to try and make sure this bond passes. It's needed,” Fite said.
