Braving triple-digit temperatures during the early evening hours of Thursday, July 20, hundreds of Aledo ISD residents gathered in an open field east of Nightmist Road in Morningstar to honor long-time Aledo educator Lynn McKinney at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new elementary school bearing her name.
“It was a big surprise,” said McKinney of learning the new school would sport her name. “To have an honor such as this, it means the world to me.”
McKinney announced her intentions to retire at the end of the 2022-23 school year, bringing her 37-year career at Aledo ISD to a conclusion. Shortly after the passage of the 2023 bond back on May 6, the official announcement that the newest elementary school in the district would be named after McKinney was made.
Initial stages of dirt work for the project began earlier this summer following the passage of the 2023 bond. Elementary school No. 7, as it was previously known leading up to the election, was the primary component of the bond. With construction presently underway, Lynn McKinney Elementary School will open its doors just in time to welcome students to the first day of school in August 2024.
“It’s a great opportunity for everybody to see all the work that went into and recognizing all the people who worked on this,” Aledo Growth Committee Co-Chair, Dan Reilley said. “But it’s really special to see Mrs. McKinney out here. Thirty-seven years of work, she’s meant a lot to so many people in the district. To see her honored like this is extra special.”
The latest addition to Aledo ISD will not open a moment too soon. According to demographic growth trends and expectations provided to the Aledo Growth Committee back in August of 2022 and revised in January 2023, five of the six existing elementary schools within the district would have exceeded capacity before the 2024-25 school year got underway. With the completion of the $59.8 million facility, the district will expand its capacity for grades K-5 by 889 students.
“One of the things I was thinking about earlier today is, because we are growing so rapidly and becoming so big, we are entering a new phase of perpetually planning for growth, building for growth, finishing construction, and starting construction,” Dr. Susan Bohn, Superintendent of Aledo ISD, said during her presentation at the groundbreaking ceremony. “That will probably be our pathway forward for multiple decades.”
Bringing a project of this proportion to fruition takes a significant contribution from hundreds of people ranging from Aledo ISD board members to architects, and the people who will be doing the labor over the next year to construct Lynn McKinney Elementary. For one group in particular, the Aledo Growth Committee comprised of 50 resident-volunteers, the work has just begun.
“We’ll be busy,” Reilley stated. “What we did was set benchmarks that we want to look at. We’ll see the tax appraisal values that come back at the end of July. Then we’ll see the new demographic information after enrollment numbers come in for August and September. We plan to meet at the end of September [to review information] and then meet quarterly, or as needed.”
The AGC met a dozen times from August 2022 to February 2023 to review data and propose plans for a way forward before ultimately coming up with a single proposition to put before voters back in May. With the heavy lifting of the 2023 bond proposal in the rearview mirror, AGC members were given the opportunity to remove themselves from future commitments as part of the group.
No one took the option to step away.
“We said all along this was Step 1,” Reilley said. “I think it speaks volumes to the commitment the people have on the committee. We did Step 1. We’re bringing it to fruition. Now, let’s get back to work on the next step, whatever that may be.”
As for McKinney, she has no plans to ride off into the sunset now that she’s retired.
“I can’t wait for the first day of school! I want to be here for the first day of school. I want to be McKinney Elementary’s first volunteer,” she said excitedly. “I’ll always be a Bearcat. Always! My heart will definitely be with this district. As long as I’m taking a breath, Aledo ISD will be a focus for me everyday.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here