The Denton school district is finalizing a deal with Lantana developer Republic Property Group (RPG) for a third elementary school to accommodate the fast-growing master-planned community.
In December, the school board approved the purchase of 12 acres of land from RPG in the southeastern portion of Lantana near the intersection of FM 407 and Copper Canyon Road, at the end of Tanner Parkway behind Sonic.
The school district paid the developer $1.7 million and gave them 2.9 acres of land west of E.P. Rayzor Elementary School along FM 407 in exchange for the new school site. The agreement is expected to be finalized in February.
Lantana opened in 2001 and had 2,631 occupied homes as of Jan. 4 with over 4,000 homes planned at buildout. Currently, there are more than 8,500 residents living in the development.
Two elementary schools currently serve Lantana: E.P. Rayzor Elementary, opened in 2002, currently houses 706 students, and Blanton Elementary, opened in 2008, has an enrollment of 725.
In the next seven years, Lantana is anticipated to have around 1,800 elementary students. The capacity of the two existing elementary schools is about 1,480 students.
“We learned last fall that due to growth, Lantana’s two existing elementary schools would reach capacity and wanted to ensure that students would always be able to attend schools within the community,” said Jake Wagner, executive vice president at RPG.
“One of the unique benefits of living in Lantana has always been the ability for students to walk and ride their bikes to school.”
No timeline has been announced for the opening of the new elementary school.
“There are still details to work out and we need to ensure traffic and safety are properly handled, but we are very excited about this addition,” said Wagner.
In addition, school officials are working with the Lantana Education and Charitable Foundation, a non-profit foundation created by RPG, for a $1 million donation that would go into the school district’s general fund for maintenance and operations.
The foundation has donated more than $6 million to local educational and charitable programs since its inception.
