ursamajor said:

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Its my sense that kids are not getting left out of band or orchestra or theatre. That's not the nature of such programs.

The sports, yes, in a sense. But another football team means another 22 starters, at the expense of another football field, another practice facility, another football staff, etc. There are also several nearby high schools that fit the 4A-type mold if that's what people are looking for.

But the most significant thing to me is that it means an economically mixed student population with everyone having roughly the same opportunities gets divided. And you don't end up with two economically equal high school populations.

At some point it will be a necessity, based on overall population and class sizes, I'm sure though. With all the houses going up, it may hit that threshold within a couple of years.

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Many 5a/6A hs share stadiums in the same district

ursamajor said:

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Its my sense that kids are not getting left out of band or orchestra or theatre. That's not the nature of such programs.

The sports, yes, in a sense. But another football team means another 22 starters, at the expense of another football field, another practice facility, another football staff, etc. There are also several nearby high schools that fit the 4A-type mold if that's what people are looking for.

But the most significant thing to me is that it means an economically mixed student population with everyone having roughly the same opportunities gets divided. And you don't end up with two economically equal high school populations.

At some point it will be a necessity, based on overall population and class sizes, I'm sure though. With all the houses going up, it may hit that threshold within a couple of years.

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While you're likely right that fine arts programs are likely not "cutting" kids, it is a certainty that kids who would have been a drum major at a smaller school are section leads, kids who would have been first chair are third, kids who would have had a lead/supporting role are theatre techs. It is one thing to be involved. It is quite another to be a leader. Ive seen a spilt first-hand and witnessed opportunities open up for kids. It's a really beautiful thing.

As another poster has already mentioned, the costs of a new program are usually shared around the district, but I think that it's odd that someone would consider that a major hurdle given the upside. If your goal is not to increase opportunities for students, why sponsor extracurriculars at all?

I can see the apprehension about the socio-economic division that a split would entail. Its a real concern and I've seen it go poorly. I think that Abilene ISD's experience can be instructive here...

That's true. I grew up in the Cy Fair district. 4 high schools, one stadium. They've got more than that now!

But you still need all the practice facilities, including practice field (and indoor practice field?), weight room, coaches, etc.

Definitely lots of advantages to more schools with smaller enrollments. It's sort of the small town vs big city conundrum. To me right now the combined resources and diversity with a moderate sized 6A enrollment make for a good mix. In ten years? Probably need another HS.

ursamajor said:

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That's true. I grew up in the Cy Fair district. 4 high schools, one stadium. They've got more than that now!

But you still need all the practice facilities, including practice field (and indoor practice field?), weight room, coaches, etc.

Definitely lots of advantages to more schools with smaller enrollments. It's sort of the small town vs big city conundrum. To me right now the combined resources and diversity with a moderate sized 6A enrollment make for a good mix. In ten years? Probably need another HS.

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While it would be more coaches that is a minimal cost. The # of teachers needed for one large HS or two medium HS would basically be the same. Most medium schools don't get an indoor practice facility. Generally speaking the practice field is not well kept and is a small cost. A weight room is usually only a large cost up front but not much from year to year.

The area that would be the large cost would be the actual construction. After that the costs for maintaining and staffing two schools compared to one would be minimal (when talking budgets of millions of dollars like a large district like Midway deals with)

As mentioned above more students would get opportunities at 2 schools to participate in all the various sports, clubs, activities and events. I doubt the dual credit, AP, etc type classes offered would drop because the size of the 2 schools would still be large enough to offer those.

I genuinely don't have a good read on the costs, but it seems like it would be a significant increase in doubling facilities and support staff, etc. You probably have to add at least some teachers, a host of coaches, all the admin, nurses, security et al. I mention the indoor facility because MHS has one. Does the other school not get one? Just a lot of those kinds of questions raised.

And it's great for students to have opportunities, but when it comes to almost all extracurriculars, they have those chances. The band, e.g., will allow in anybody, and they get to compete at the highest level in the state. Clubs that might have five kids in a smaller school get 10 kids at the bigger school and have a better experience. At the bigger school you can have French, Spanish, and German. But if you split up your French and German students across two campuses and there's only one teacher available for each language, maybe those just both go away.

There's also the deal of kids getting to meet new kids, and not being kind of stuck from 6th grade on with one set of people. Getting new friends in high school and a new social set is a big deal for lots of teenagers.

A tough one, no doubt. And. I do think MHS is just about 500 students away from a lot of the big school advantages being overcome by the disadvantages. But for now I wouldn't want to see it happen.

FrankFallonCalling said:

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Midway HS enrollment numbers keep increasing while the number of positions on the football/baseball/basketball, etc. teams remain fixed. Same with parts in plays, debate teams, orchestra chairs, etc. Simple math indicates that a lot of enthusiastic kids are getting left out. The more kids you can have meaningfully involved in extracurriculars, the better.

Having closely observed one massive district that made the decision to remain at one high school for the sake of football and band and comparing that to two other districts that made the difficult but ultimately rational decision to split, I don't really think that there is much of a debate as to the best course of action.

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I think there are pros and cons to both.

At a larger institution, you are more likely to have access to programs that you do not have at smaller institutions. Moreover, when you compete in extracurricular activities at the 6A level, you are competing against the cream of the crop.

At a smaller institution, you have more opportunity to participate in case you don't quite fit in at the large school level. And, while you may not have many programs, you have much closer student monitoring and attention than you can get from larger institutions.

College is much the same way. UT and UMHB are both universities of higher education. But, the person who is attending UT and the person attending UMHB are attending those schools for different reasons. And, choice is always a good thing.

Midway serves a great need for McLennan County in that it is a large school district that provides the advantages of a large suburban high school to McLennan County parents.

At the same time, if parents would prefer a smaller atmosphere, you have everything from Parkview to Riesel to West to Lorena to China Spring available to you and your kids.

Midway ISD shares a huge boundary with Lorena ISD and Hewitt has actually grown into what is and has been traditionally Lorena ISD.

So it's not a huge move to make those kinds of choices. It may be for the neighborhood you want to live in, but you have choices,

For what it's worth Lorena has Rancho Lorena in its district in addition to two other "high end" subdivisions under construction.

McLennan County is a relatively slow growing metro, so it's not like Lorena ISD is going to grow out of where it is anytime soon - even with the growth down in Bell County.

I'm really curious as to which programs or services you think that Midway High School currently provides that two 5A Midway ISD high schools would be unable to provide.

Scale certainly matters in terms of providing academic services, but large, multi-campus districts are able to combine resources and serve kids well. To wit, I have seen two districts split high schools and neither lost a single AP course but both were able to add career and tech options unique to the separate campuses.

The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

ursamajor said:

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I genuinely don't have a good read on the costs, but it seems like it would be a significant increase in doubling facilities and support staff, etc. You probably have to add at least some teachers, a host of coaches, all the admin, nurses, security et al. I mention the indoor facility because MHS has one. Does the other school not get one? Just a lot of those kinds of questions raised.

And it's great for students to have opportunities, but when it comes to almost all extracurriculars, they have those chances. The band, e.g., will allow in anybody, and they get to compete at the highest level in the state. Clubs that might have five kids in a smaller school get 10 kids at the bigger school and have a better experience. At the bigger school you can have French, Spanish, and German. But if you split up your French and German students across two campuses and there's only one teacher available for each language, maybe those just both go away.

There's also the deal of kids getting to meet new kids, and not being kind of stuck from 6th grade on with one set of people. Getting new friends in high school and a new social set is a big deal for lots of teenagers.

A tough one, no doubt. And. I do think MHS is just about 500 students away from a lot of the big school advantages being overcome by the disadvantages. But for now I wouldn't want to see it happen.

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It would be an increase of staff to have a second HS but again when you are talking multi million dollar budgets it would be a relatively small increase. Many of the positions you mention would just transfer schools. For example the high school now has 5 Assistant principals. If a second campus opens they would not need all 5 at one school. 2 could transfer as AP And one could become the principal.

The indoor practice facility would be an issue since the current HS has one and that would be a big one time expense.

I think you underestimate the opportunities at smaller schools. You also seem to be comparing a small 1A or 2A school to what would be two larger 5A schools. As someone pointed out all kids can join the band at Midway currently. But with 2 campuses you would now have a greater chance for that student to be the drum major or first chair. And competing at the highest level doesn't mean much. China Spring band does well and wins awards at the state level. I doubt those kids or parents care that it is 4A and not 6A. Same for sports. Lorena and China Spring won state in football this year. I doubt the parents, coaches or players care much about it being at the 3A or 4A level and not the 6A level. Also the small schools often have those language courses as well. With 2 high schools in the same district you can also do a half day at each campus for the teacher. Schools do that with staff all the time.

Again for the meeting new people they would still have that opportunity at a school of over 1000 students. You seem to be acting like they would be at a campus of 400 total students. And some parents/students would prefer that smaller same group of people. Especially the ones that move out to Lorena, Robinson, China Spring. They make lifelong friends instead of high school friends.

FrankFallonCalling said:

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I'm really curious as to which programs or services you think that Midway High School currently provides that two 5A Midway ISD high schools would be unable to provide.

Scale certainly matters in terms of providing academic services, but large, multi-campus districts are able to combine resources and serve kids well. To wit, I have seen two districts split high schools and neither lost a single AP course but both were able to add career and tech options unique to the separate campuses.

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Exactly. Both would still be over 1000 students. it isn't like they would be opening two 3A schools with just over 400 kids each.

loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

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I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

Disregard the emoji

cowboycwr said:

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I think you underestimate the opportunities at smaller schools. You also seem to be comparing a small 1A or 2A school to what would be two larger 5A schools. As someone pointed out all kids can join the band at Midway currently. But with 2 campuses you would now have a greater chance for that student to be the drum major or first chair. And competing at the highest level doesn't mean much. China Spring band does well and wins awards at the state level. I doubt those kids or parents care that it is 4A and not 6A. Same for sports. Lorena and China Spring won state in football this year. I doubt the parents, coaches or players care much about it being at the 3A or 4A level and not the 6A level. Also the small schools often have those language courses as well. With 2 high schools in the same district you can also do a half day at each campus for the teacher. Schools do that with staff all the time.

Again for the meeting new people they would still have that opportunity at a school of over 1000 students. You seem to be acting like they would be at a campus of 400 total students. And some parents/students would prefer that smaller same group of people. Especially the ones that move out to Lorena, Robinson, China Spring. They make lifelong friends instead of high school friends.

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I'm not intending to deny that smaller schools have their benefits. I agree with most everything you said.

But I also think there are many who do care if you win state at 3A vs winning it at 6A. Just like most Baylor fans feel better about going 2-7 in the Big 12 than they would about winning the SWAC. Some folks would be happier being second chair in a 6A than being first chair in a 5A school. I'm not saying I feel that way about 6A, but many people do. And for those who don't there are many outstanding schools in the area.

And teachers can split time on campuses. Happens all the time. But it's a lot easier for them not to split time. To stay in one place, build a program, not feel like an outsider on two campuses, build relationships with one administration.

And while I am sure many students in smaller schools make lifelong friends, there are many others who never belong. A bigger school doesn't guarantee that those kids will find a niche, but it provides twice the chance.

I guess all I'm saying is that there is a place for both kinds of schools. Midway isn't even all that big in Texas terms. And as things currently stand, I think it is good for kids from Speegleville, Riverside, Hidden Valley, old Woodway, Hewitt Dr apartments, Ritchie Rd, old Hewitt, etc. to go to school together.

The thing that gets me is that you're not talking about the choice between 6A and 3A. We're talking about two 5A schools - the same classification that Midway occupied extremely recently.

I don't think that the families, players, or coaches at HP (until this year) or the majority of the Frisco and Mansfield schools think that they're playing in the minor leagues.

1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

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Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

---

Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

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I think those are really valid concerns with a relatively obvious solution: draw a line that makes a more equitable split.

cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

---

Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

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I mean I get why homeowners wouldn't like it in Hewitt, but I still don't understand why it would matter to HS kids to have the higher priced houses zoned to one Hs and others to another.

Like I said, I probably need to research more on it, but doesn't seem like a big issue to me

Also, good point about being one high school school districts..I don't know much about belton, I wonder how they divided it?

ursamajor said:

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cowboycwr said:

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I think you underestimate the opportunities at smaller schools. You also seem to be comparing a small 1A or 2A school to what would be two larger 5A schools. As someone pointed out all kids can join the band at Midway currently. But with 2 campuses you would now have a greater chance for that student to be the drum major or first chair. And competing at the highest level doesn't mean much. China Spring band does well and wins awards at the state level. I doubt those kids or parents care that it is 4A and not 6A. Same for sports. Lorena and China Spring won state in football this year. I doubt the parents, coaches or players care much about it being at the 3A or 4A level and not the 6A level. Also the small schools often have those language courses as well. With 2 high schools in the same district you can also do a half day at each campus for the teacher. Schools do that with staff all the time.

Again for the meeting new people they would still have that opportunity at a school of over 1000 students. You seem to be acting like they would be at a campus of 400 total students. And some parents/students would prefer that smaller same group of people. Especially the ones that move out to Lorena, Robinson, China Spring. They make lifelong friends instead of high school friends.

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I'm not intending to deny that smaller schools have their benefits. I agree with most everything you said.

But I also think there are many who do care if you win state at 3A vs winning it at 6A. Just like most Baylor fans feel better about going 2-7 in the Big 12 than they would about winning the SWAC. Some folks would be happier being second chair in a 6A than being first chair in a 5A school. I'm not saying I feel that way about 6A, but many people do. And for those who don't there are many outstanding schools in the area.

And teachers can split time on campuses. Happens all the time. But it's a lot easier for them not to split time. To stay in one place, build a program, not feel like an outsider on two campuses, build relationships with one administration.

And while I am sure many students in smaller schools make lifelong friends, there are many others who never belong. A bigger school doesn't guarantee that those kids will find a niche, but it provides twice the chance.

I guess all I'm saying is that there is a place for both kinds of schools. Midway isn't even all that big in Texas terms. And as things currently stand, I think it is good for kids from Speegleville, Riverside, Hidden Valley, old Woodway, Hewitt Dr apartments, Ritchie Rd, old Hewitt, etc. to go to school together.

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Yeah I doubt that there are many that care about the number of As when they win state. Using the example of Baylor is different as you are comparing a University and money making athletic department against public school high school.

A parent that moves to a 6A school to get their kid into the big time football program cares. The vast, VAST majority of parents do not care. I doubt there is a single person in Lorena or China Spring right now that is complaining that their team won state but it was "only at the 3A level" or saying "it isn't a real state title" or anything like that.

As for the not belonging you have actually made the argument for the smaller schools. Every survey done over the last 30-40 years has shown there are more students who feel lost/never belong at bigger schools because they are just another number.

FrankFallonCalling said:

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cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

---

Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

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I think those are really valid concerns with a relatively obvious solution: draw a line that makes a more equitable split.

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I don't think that is possible with the location of the current school.

It was a similar issue with Waco isd when they had a chance to buy the land where Floyd Casey was. It was in the current University HS zone and would have put the two schools very close to each other and made the possibility of attendance zones having to look really weird with students living close to one school but attending the other.

1outawayBear said:

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cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

---

Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

---

I mean I get why homeowners wouldn't like it in Hewitt, but I still don't understand why it would matter to HS kids to have the higher priced houses zoned to one Hs and others to another.

Like I said, I probably need to research more on it, but doesn't seem like a big issue to me

Also, good point about being one high school school districts..I don't know much about belton, I wonder how they divided it?

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I know it was a very similar situation to what Midway is facing. When they went from one to 2 middle schools it was an issue because the new middle school was in the area of town with the new growth that was larger/more expensive houses and then was the issue again when they split for two HS.

I don't think the kids really care about the economic differences of two schools but it can have impacts on lots of different issues within the school.

I was just responding to a point about other area schools in bringing up the 3A stuff.

I also am not sure HP is ever a valid point of comparison for any schools. In general though I agree. 5A schools can be fantastic in all areas. In no way inferior to a 6A school. But so too can 6A schools be really good.

In the end for me the cost of a new school and the division of resources and community support, combined with the very real pitfalls of creating economically disparate campuses and sharply homogenizing student populations outweighs the advantages of having smaller campuses, especially since I consider a school Midway's size not too large to begin with.

I don't think we will agree on this, but I will probably tap out, but I'm very grateful for the perspective you and 1out and cowboy have offered.

Reasonable people certainly can disagree. Any action or inaction will obviously have its detractors.

I definitely appreciate the concern about creating homogenous student populations. If our schools are to be laboratories of democracy, the lab should be as reflective of society as possible.

cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

---

Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

---

I mean I get why homeowners wouldn't like it in Hewitt, but I still don't understand why it would matter to HS kids to have the higher priced houses zoned to one Hs and others to another.

Like I said, I probably need to research more on it, but doesn't seem like a big issue to me

Also, good point about being one high school school districts..I don't know much about belton, I wonder how they divided it?

---

I know it was a very similar situation to what Midway is facing. When they went from one to 2 middle schools it was an issue because the new middle school was in the area of town with the new growth that was larger/more expensive houses and then was the issue again when they split for two HS.

I don't think the kids really care about the economic differences of two schools but it can have impacts on lots of different issues within the school.

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I don't know that the kids care that much. I think the admin is concerned because the quality of the school with respect to test scores/ranking etc normally follows the demographics. Stats were shared all the way down to the elementary school level in the area and test scores went higher to lower based on the higher income to lower income area schools.

I don't know that this is a direct reason, but dividing the middle schools will essentially be a test of this theory since it is basically dividing Hewitt and Woodway into separate middle schools.

loanbear said:

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cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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cowboycwr said:

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1outawayBear said:

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loanbear said:

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The biggest conversation about adding the 2nd high school has been around the economic disparity/dividing lines, not about the cost. Every administrator, teacher, etc I have had this conversation with speaks to that issue alone as the biggest factor/hesitancy by far.

---

I guess I don't know enough about schools and the background issues etc.

Why does economic disparity matter in terms of HS kids? Westlake, LT, HP, aledo, Argyle, Lucas Love joy etc aren't economically diverse and they are all rated as some of the top Hs both academically and athletically in the state

---

Economic disparity matters when you split one high school into two. The other schools you mentioned are single high schools.

When you split one into two and the possible attendance zones could fall with a wealthier area and a poor area that matters.

In Midway for example the most common sense split is Woodway and Hewitt. There is a difference in the economics of those two areas/ incomes of the families.

---

I mean I get why homeowners wouldn't like it in Hewitt, but I still don't understand why it would matter to HS kids to have the higher priced houses zoned to one Hs and others to another.

Like I said, I probably need to research more on it, but doesn't seem like a big issue to me

Also, good point about being one high school school districts..I don't know much about belton, I wonder how they divided it?

---

I know it was a very similar situation to what Midway is facing. When they went from one to 2 middle schools it was an issue because the new middle school was in the area of town with the new growth that was larger/more expensive houses and then was the issue again when they split for two HS.

I don't think the kids really care about the economic differences of two schools but it can have impacts on lots of different issues within the school.

---

I don't know that the kids care that much. I think the admin is concerned because the quality of the school with respect to test scores/ranking etc normally follows the demographics. Stats were shared all the way down to the elementary school level in the area and test scores went higher to lower based on the higher income to lower income area schools.

I don't know that this is a direct reason, but dividing the middle schools will essentially be a test of this theory since it is basically dividing Hewitt and Woodway into separate middle schools.

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They get bonuses off of test scores so now this makes sense why that is the teachers concern. It didn't make sense to me why any HS kid would care about that

PartyBear said:

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Not to derail but I have no idea what happened to Midway football it has been on the decline since the class of 18 graduated.

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the talented kids branched out to Lorena, CS where competition is easier

I used to be in favor of splitting schools to create more opportunities for students and a better environment but I've changed my opinion on that.

Having lived and worked in areas that split high schools, what I've noted is that there does create a lot of unintentional economic disparity. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad in Midway as there are- and will likely continue to be for a little while at least- nicer subdivisions in what would become "old" Midway HS. They are also investing in a new and remodeled facilities at the intermediate ranks that would feed into the "old" HS and that helps some.

However, it's almost inevitable that, once the new HS is built, appreciation will still occur in the "old" Midway HS area but it will be much slower than in the new HS area which will be "the place to be." New subdivisions will pull towards the new HS which will be higher priced and that's where those that have the means will live, creating said economic disparity. New commercial development and investment in city infrastructure will follow the residential growth. As the division becomes more clear, better teachers will also want to be in the new campus instead of the old because of the quality of student. (Which isn't really the kid but usually the parents involvement/care about their child's academic success but I digress...)

Schools drive families and, ultimately, there will be a "good HS" and a "better HS" and over several decades that will impact all matters of the town. It also has a real effect on town pride. If Midway ISD is good, the area rallies around it and there is a collective good. When the district is divided, the two HS will become natural rivals. So if there are two schools and "Old Midway" is good at sports then New Midway residents will not be supportive and vice versa. It seems like a small deal but it has a mental aspect and a negative impact on comradery.

I grew up in Baytown. They went from 1->2->3 high schools in Goose Creek ISD over a period of about 2.5 generations. Before I was born, Baytown Lee was it. Everyone went there. When Baytown Sterling was built, it was built farther out and all the growth moved towards it. Baytown Sterling was still diverse (though not as much as Baytown Lee) and the district drew lines to try to keep it that way as much as logistically possible... but it also had an affect on the town, from new construction, commercial development, etc.

Ultimately, they ended up going to 3 high schools and that hurt Baytown Lee even more. Now you have a caste system almost. Baytown Lee is generally the "old" poor school, Baytown Sterling is average, and Baytown Memorial is where anyone with means tries to get. Growth, unsurprisingly, followed the new HS and that area has exploded where other areas of town have stagnated or even become more depressed.

I have no skin in the fight but I would argue that one HS is generally better for the district and better for the residents of Hewitt/Woodway.