Argyle ISD produced a 10-year strategic growth plan in 2023. Now it’s putting three bond propositions totaling $511.5 million before local voters to fund the key parts of that plan.
The proposed bond package would be funded using the existing property tax rate of $1.21 per $100 valuation.
“The students are coming,” Argyle ISD Superintendent Courtney Carpenter told a group of Argyle residents after a bond presentation.
Surging growth in North Texas has brought thousands of families into Denton County. Local school districts are racing to keep up with the children coming with them. A district that once had a single campus for kindergarten through eighth grade is now watching as developers build homes, and business continues to grow, too.
In the second quarter of 2023, Argyle ISD saw the highest number of housing starts — that’s the number of new single-family homes — in the school district’s history. More than 1,400 lots are currently available for construction, and with more than 500 homes being built, the district expects steady growth over the next 10 years.
The district assembled a 50-member bond committee to study the challenges and needs for accommodating thousands of additional students. That committee, made up of parents, business leaders, community members and students, recommended the three bond propositions that voters will consider on May 4.
District officials have seen enrollment jump 82% over the last seven years. Carpenter has told voters at several bond presentations that, by the 2028-29 school year, the district expects to exceed 8,000 students. Within 10 years, she said, Argyle ISD projects enrollment will top 10,000.
“Growing alongside the five communities it proudly serves within its 35-square-mile district boundaries, Argyle ISD has undergone a remarkable transformation over the years,” Carpenter says in a video reviewing the bond.
Proposition A would put $482.4 million toward building more capacity into the district, which is growing rapidly. The proposal would fund future land purchases for new schools and facilities. The proposal would also build a second middle school, expected to serve sixth through eighth grades. It would also build the sixth elementary school in the district, accommodating prekindergarten through fifth grade.
Proposition A would build more capacity at Argyle High School and Argyle Middle School. The district is planning to transition the middle school into a high school campus within the next 10 years.
Proposition B would set aside more than $22.6 million for a competition softball and baseball complex the district wants to build at Argyle High. The bond project would accommodate growth with the addition of a second high school.
Proposition C would provide $6.5 million for technology, which Carpenter said would largely fund the purchase of computers for the growth in the district’s secondary student population. Argyle ISD is a 1:1 district, which means it issues a computing device — a Chromebook — to each student. Elementary school students use them in their classrooms. Older students take their computers to each class and can use them at home.
Carpenter said the school district has a lot of competition when it comes to buying land.
“We’re out there with the other buyers,” she said. “We’re looking for land just like business owners and housing developers. It’s not going to be simple.”