Aledo expected to need to build a second high school soon. Things have changed
Less than four years ago, Aledo was growing faster than it could build schools. The district’s one high school was expected to exceed capacity by 2027, raising the unpopular prospect of having to build a second one.
But since then, enrollment has stalled. And now the Aledo ISD school board says it won’t need another high school for the foreseeable future.
Aledo ISD grew by over 1,700 students between the 2018-19 school year and 2022-23, as Parker County communities west of Fort Worth exploded with new residential developments.
In 2022, the district formed a citizen-led Aledo Growth Committee to navigate the population boom and study the options to accommodate the new students.
This week, the committee presented its findings to the school board, including conceptual designs for future second high school — whenever it might be needed.
Enrollment has slowed to just under 270 additional students joining the district between 2023-24 and 2024-25, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
With that in mind, the growth committee — composed of 53 residents and staff — spent the previous eight months working to develop a conceptual proposal for how the district could meet future space needs — while stopping short of recommending a bond package.
“This committee had the luxury of time to plan for what potential future high school space will look like,” Dan Reilley, co-chair of the committee, said in a news release. “As growth has slowed in Aledo, we are not currently in a position to need to build additional high school space. But we know that could change any minute, and now we have two conceptual designs ready to go for when the next growth committee is convened.”
The committee’s proposal, developed by the architecture firm, Huckabee, included two buildings: an additional high school and a college and career academy. The committee proposed that both buildings would be located on land the school district already owns.
The growth committee in 2023 recommended to the school board a $123.8 million bond package that included $20.2 million in renovations to the existing high school and $17.8 million for the purchase of two tracts for future school space.
Construction projects that were part of the 2023 bond package — including the high school renovation, a new athletic facility and a new elementary school — have been completed.
The committee proposed that an additional high school could be located at a 100-acre tract west of Morning Star Ranch — one of the gargantuan housing developments contributing to the county’s boom — and north of Lynn McKinney Elementary School and McAnally Middle School.
The committee’s design for the additional high school included three floors, and the site plan included a performing arts center, a band practice area, a baseball field, a softball field, tennis courts, a stadium and more. The site plan spans over 683,000 square feet.
The committee recommended the additional high school be modernized in comparison to the existing high school, which was built in 2000, while still keeping “equity” between the schools in mind.
The college and career academy would be located in the southwest corner of Buchanan Drive and Champion Drive, spanning over 169,000 square feet. The building would service around 1,200 students across two floors.
The committee conceptualized the academy as a place where students can take high-level career classes, technical education classes and advanced academic classes for college credit.
