BY CHLOE YOUNG
Currently open 1 Legacy Ranch Middle School • Opening date: August 2025 • Square footage: 190,380 • Student capacity: 1,200-1,300 • Address: 450 CR 258, Liberty Hill Opening in 2026 2 Legacy Ranch High School • Opening date: August 2026 • Square footage: 475,000 • Student capacity: 2,800 • Address: 1277 CR 258, Liberty Hill 3 Elementary School No. 8 • Opening date: August 2026 • Square footage: 112,992 • Student capacity: 1,000 • Address: 3086 CR 214, Liberty Hill Opening in 2027
Looking ahead
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Last school year, LHISD used the site of its future third middle school campus, Legacy Ranch Middle School, to temporarily serve incoming high school students until the new high school campus is complete. In August 2026, the district will open the ocial Legacy Ranch High School campus o CR 258 and open Legacy Ranch Middle School to sixth through eighth graders. The opening of a second high school was needed as Liberty Hill High School is close to exceeding its capacity of 2,200 students, Motal said. “We really felt like it was better to build a sec- ond high school and expand the opportunities for the kids that we have rather than try to crowd them all into one building,” Motal said. The district will open Elementary School No. 8 in the Lariat neighborhood in 2026 and Elemen- tary School No. 9 in the Saddleback at Santa Rita
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Ranch subdivision in 2027. These campuses will be designed to accommodate 1,000 students per campus. This fall, the district will begin the process of rezoning school campuses ahead of the 2026-27 school year. The district will form a committee in September to provide input on rezoning before the board of trustees vote in January, Motal said.
4 Elementary School No. 9 • Opening date: August 2027 • Square footage: TBD • Student capacity: 1,000 • Address: TBD
Managing the impact
Stay tuned
Measuring the impact Class sizes increased from: Grades 3-4 22 to 23 students Grades 5-8 23 to 25 students Grades 9-12 25 to 27 students
A week into the 2025-26 school year, Motal said teachers are already sharing concerns about crowded classrooms. Going forward, Motal said teachers may feel the impact of the $5 million in eliminated positions. The district is phasing out its two-way dual language Spanish program after cutting its 14 emergent bilingual paraprofessionals. The district eliminated seven gifted and talented teachers, seven STEM special teachers and four English-as- a-second-language interventionists.
If the VATRE is approved, LHISD could reinvest $7.4 million into student programs, $1.3 million into safety and security initiatives, and $2.2 million in raises. If the VATRE does not pass, LHISD may need to make $4 million in cuts in FY 2026-27, Motal said. The district could consider not opening Legacy Ranch Middle School or Elementary School No. 8 in 2026, he said. Other cost saving options include increasing class sizes and sharing sta.
78 positions cuts Campus budgets decreased by 10% Department budgets decrease by 12%
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