Argyle ISD ends the option to stay at Argyle High

ARGYLE, Texas — Freshmen and sophomores inside Legacy High School’s new boundary will attend that campus when it opens. They will not get the option to stay at Argyle High School. The Cross Timbers Gazette reported that the Argyle ISD board voted Monday to assign those students by zone. Superintendent Courtney Carpenter said the transfer choice the district had discussed for the class of 2030 created “unnecessary uncertainty, speculation and confusion among families.” She said many decisions were being driven by “what ifs,” peer talk, and guesses about Legacy rather than known facts. A firm count lets the district staff the school and lets students pick courses in November with the rest of the district. If sophomores could choose a campus for 2027-28, the Gazette reported, enrollment might not be known until after the year started. Legacy is expected to open in 2027-28 as a Class 3A school with about 168 freshmen and 173 sophomores. The campus is the former middle school, once Argyle High, and the mascot will be the Red Hawks. Families had worried some classes or teams would be too small to offer. The district said zoning each student to one school gives every organization a chance to form, though a class is still not guaranteed. Trustees also discussed a one-for-one swap between campuses and dropped it. They said a cap, and the chance a student could later return to a home zone, would be too hard to track. “I want to do what’s best for the kids, and sometimes you have to make a decision and the kids will fall in line,” trustee Leona McDade said, according to the Gazette. Board president Leigh Ann Artho said staying in the zoned school “has made the most sense,” and that the choice was “a really big decision to put on 14 year olds.” Trustee Rich McDowell said that once the district decided to split, “there was no perfect answer.” The boundaries were drawn so students would not cross the train tracks, and trustees said they meant to use those lines. There will be no varsity football team in year one. Other sports can compete at the varsity level in Class 3A. In year two the school is expected to move to Class 4A and start varsity football in Division II. Seventh and eighth graders will share the campus until a new middle school opens in 2029-30. The district projects about 860 students at Legacy by 2032-33. Monday’s agenda asked the board to consider the Legacy principal position. The Gazette reported the district opened that search Monday evening. The Sept. 21 agenda is on BoardBook. The Gazette story is at crosstimbersgazette.com.