The Argyle ISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday night unanimously adopted a 10-year growth plan that includes building two new middle school campuses.
The district has doubled in enrollment — from nearly 2,500 students to 5,000 — in a little more than five years. It expects to serve nearly 12,000 students in 2032-33, and this rapid growth has created a need for more instructional space within the district. Voters approved a $268 million bond election in May 2022 for the district to build two more elementary schools and one middle school campus to accommodate that growth.
The district expects to call another bond election in 2024 or 2025 to get voter approval for funding for a sixth elementary school, another new middle school campus and additions at the Canyon Falls and Hwy 377 high school campuses. The district’s new growth plan calls for the district to stick to having only one high school until it reaches enrollment of 2,700 students, then split into two separate 5A 9-12 high schools, one in at the new Argyle High School in Canyon Falls and the other at the old high school on Hwy 377. AHS currently has about 1,500 students, according to the district.
To keep up with growth, Argyle ISD has had new campuses open and/or new campus designations every school year for the last several years, and that constant change will persist for the foreseeable future.
Board members said during Tuesday’s meeting that this growth plan would allow the district to maximize its resources and maintain high quality education.
Many residents want Argyle to remain a one-high-school district. Members of an AISD High School Planning Committee last year thought that the best solution for the growth problem was to have a 9th grade campus and a main Argyle High School for grades 10-12, but board members went with the two-high-school plan instead.
“In terms of this school spirit deal, you know, we’re still one Eagles, just two nests,” said Dr. John Bitter.
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