For the first time since 2019, North Texas will begin a school year without a new comprehensive public high school opening its doors.
A KRLD review of state campus records, district construction schedules and announced openings found no newly created, attendance-zoned public high school coming online in the DFW area for the 2026-27 school year.
The finding does not include charter, private, virtual or early-college campuses. It also excludes replacement buildings for existing schools.
The pause ends a six-year streak of new high-school openings across the region:
- Rock Hill High School in Prosper ISD opened in 2020.
- Emerson High School in Frisco ISD followed in 2021.
- Frisco ISD opened Panther Creek High School in 2022.
- Prosper ISD added Walnut Grove High School in 2023.
- Eagle Mountain High School opened in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD in 2024.
- Prosper ISD opened Richland High School in 2025.
Prosper and Frisco ISDs accounted for five of those six schools, continuing a building boom driven by rapid enrollment growth in the northern suburbs.
Although a year without an opening may seem unusual after that run, it has happened several times in recent history. Using the same definition, North Texas also had no new comprehensive public high school open in 2011, 2013 or 2017.
That makes 2026 the fifth year since 2010 without a new high school opening in the region.
The break is also expected to be short.
Three high-school additions are planned for 2027. Northwest ISD expects to open Davis High School, while Waxahachie ISD is preparing to open Waxahachie Creek High School. Argyle Legacy is also scheduled to begin serving high-school students as Argyle ISD moves toward operating its second high school.
So, while no new comprehensive high school is opening in DFW this fall, the familiar signs of North Texas growth are expected to return next year.
