Trustees unanimously approved calling the bond election at a Feb. 12 meeting and voters will consider the bond’s two propositions during the May 3 election. District officials said that the bond is contingent upon growth and without it, the district would not issue the bond and not incur the cost.
“Even if the bond passes and voters approve it, if the growth stopped, we wouldn’t be able to go out and sell these bonds," Trustee Matt Slaton said.
The details
The bond will be put before voters in two propositions, which address campus improvements and building new schools to accommodate growth, and another for athletic facility construction. The ballot items include:
- Proposition A: Over $393.7 million for bus purchases, technology updates, constructing a sixth elementary school and new middle school as well as design for a third middle school. It outlines upgrades to Hilltop Elementary, The Sixth Grade Center and Argyle Middle School on US 377 including circulation improvements to Argyle High School. It also includes funds for land acquisition for additional elementary, middle and high school campuses.
- Proposition B: More than $29.4 million for building a baseball and softball complex at Argyle High School located off Canyon Falls Drive.
If the 2025 bond fails, the school will need to be built at a smaller capacity than intended to be covered solely by the $39 million left from the 2022 bond. This would cause the district to experience elementary level capacity issues sooner, officials said.
AISD enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is around 6,100, 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.
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, purchasing land for future schools, and new technology.
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. However, it does not contain any capacity improvements at campuses.
The 2025 bond allocates funds for a middle school needed by the 2029-30 school year to help alleviate overcapacity at the FM 407 middle school set to open in 2026 and Argyle Middle School off US 377. The middle school from the 2025 bond will also absorb seventh and eighth graders, allowing the US 377 campus to function solely as a high school, which is set to house seventh through 12th graders until that campus opens, according to the district’s rezoning plan.
With AISD’s projected growth, students could attend classes in portables if new campuses are not built in tandem with AISD’s projected growth, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
Additionally, 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 the district’s plan to split into two high schools. Without it, students will need to navigate highways during after school traffic because the 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.
What they're saying
“Putting forth a big bond where there is planning put forward for land is so critical,” bond committee member Jane Kryziak said. “If you have lived in the district for a while, as I have, that's what has really gotten us behind the eight ball. We just have not had the land and haven’t had the ability to plan ahead.”
Going forward
Voters will consider both propositions at the May 3 election. The last day to register to vote is April 3 and early voting will take place April 22-29.
