Gunter ISD New High School: Why the JC Maples Site Was Dropped and What’s Next

Updated October 26, 2026.

Gunter ISD has not picked a site for its new high school yet. In July 2026 the district dropped the roughly 118-acre JC Maples Road property it had long shown as its future high school site. Superintendent Dr. Brandon Enos told KTEN the land was too small and had no sewer, power or water lines, and that a demographic study shows most of the district’s growth heading west of State Highway 289. As of late October 2026, no replacement site, construction timeline or new bond election has been announced. Here is what is decided, what is still a plan, and what that means if you have kids in Gunter ISD or are thinking about buying a home here.

The short version

• Decided: the JC Maples Road site is out, per the superintendent’s comments to KTEN in July 2026.
• Not decided: where the new high school will go, how big it will be, when it opens, and how it would be paid for.
• Today: Gunter ISD reported 1,233 students on the first day of the 2026–27 school year, including 421 at Gunter High School.
• Coming: two approved neighborhoods inside Gunter, Platinum Ranch and Taylor Ranch, plan about 4,873 homes between them, according to their 2026 bond offering documents.
• Money: the last school bond, $78.8 million, passed in May 2022 and its projects are nearly finished, per Gunter ISD Bond Progress.

Why the JC Maples Road site was dropped

For several years, Gunter ISD’s plan for a future high school pointed east of town. The district’s bond website still shows a map that labels a “Future High School Site” near JC Maples Road and Kerfoot Drive, east of the current middle and high school campus. A December 2022 board presentation went further, with a feasibility study for a “new HS site” of about 120 acres along Kerfoot Drive. It sketched athletic fields first, then classrooms, then a stadium, competition gym, field house and performing arts center in later phases.

That plan changed this summer. In a July 24, 2026 KTEN report, Dr. Enos gave three reasons:

• Size. He said the roughly 118-acre property was “not enough space” for the high school the district expects to need.
• Utilities. “JC Maples right now there is no sewage, there is no electrical, there are no water lines,” he said. Running those lines to raw land adds cost and time before any building goes up.
• Location. He said the district’s demographic study shows “a lion’s share” of growth west of 289 and south of FM 121, with some growth east of 289. He also pointed to a future tollway in the area.

His summary was simple: “I don’t want to build a high school in the wrong spot.” For families, that is a reasonable call. A high school is a 50-year building, and putting it on the far side of town from where most students will live would mean longer bus rides and more traffic for decades.

How many students Gunter ISD has now

Gunter ISD is a 3A, pre-K through 12th grade district covering more than 66 square miles, about 22 miles north of Frisco, according to the district’s About page, which describes it as about 1,100 students. The newer number is higher. The district reported first-day enrollment of 1,233 for 2026–27: 512 in elementary, 300 in middle school and 421 in high school.

Official fall counts from the Texas Education Agency, as republished by txschools.net, have been fairly flat over the last five years:

• 2021–22: 1,115 students
• 2022–23: 1,158
• 2023–24: 1,140
• 2024–25: 1,156
• 2025–26: 1,154

First-day counts and TEA fall snapshots are measured differently, so don’t read the jump to 1,233 as exact growth. What the numbers do show is a small district that has held steady while the homebuilding wave is still mostly ahead of it.

The growth the district is planning for

The reason for a bigger high school is on the drawing boards west of town. Two master-planned neighborhoods inside Gunter city limits have issued special-district bonds this year, and their offering documents spell out the scale:

• Platinum Ranch: about 4,224 planned homes on roughly 1,715 acres north of Marilee Road, about 1.5 miles west of SH 289, in Gunter ISD. The first section is 962 lots, and the appraisal lists June 1, 2027 for completion of those first lots (Platinum Ranch offering document).
• Taylor Ranch: 649 planned homes on about 491 acres near Little Elm Creek Road and Westman Road, about 2 miles west of SH 289, also in Gunter ISD. The appraisal lists December 1, 2027 for the first finished lots (Taylor Ranch offering document). Our Taylor Ranch guide covers builders and PID costs.

Together that is about 4,873 homes, roughly four for every student enrolled today. A separate water and sewer agreement with Mustang Special Utility District, described in the Platinum Ranch document, plans service for about 5,160 homes across the two projects, about 3,000 apartment units and three school tracts totaling about 60 acres. Both neighborhoods sit on the west side of 289, the side the superintendent pointed to.

Nobody should turn those home counts into a student count. Homes will open in phases over many years, and not every household will have school-age kids. Still, even the first two sections, 962 lots at Platinum Ranch and the first phase at Taylor Ranch, are large next to a high school of about 420 students.

School sites inside Platinum Ranch

The Platinum Ranch development agreement reserves three school sites of about 20 acres each for possible dedication to Gunter ISD. Two are in the larger future section and one is in the first section. The offering document says none of those dedications has been made yet, and if the district turns a site down, the developer can use it for homes. Twenty acres is typically elementary-school size, not high-school size, so these sites don’t answer the high school question on their own. For the wider picture of what is built, approved and stalled, see our Gunter growth tracker.

Where the 2022 bond money went

Voters approved Gunter ISD’s $78.8 million bond on May 7, 2022. The district’s bond project page breaks it down: about $46.4 million for a new elementary school, $12 million for land acquisition, $10.1 million for a middle school storm shelter gym, $6.18 million for high school additions, $2.37 million for district-wide projects and $1.75 million for drainage.

The district lists the new elementary school, middle and high school additions, land acquisition for future facilities and drainage work as complete. More recent finished items include new football turf, high school restroom upgrades and the Tiger Lane access road to Kerfoot Drive. Work still listed as underway includes baseball and softball turf, a cover for the football stands, and restoring the Old Gunter Schoolhouse at 100 W. Pecan Street as the district’s administration building, with a January 2027 target.

In short, the 2022 bond did not build a new high school, and its money is mostly spent. A brand-new high school would almost certainly need a new bond approved by voters. No such election has been called. For context, the Platinum Ranch document lists Gunter ISD’s 2025 tax rate at $1.1872 per $100 of value and about $86.05 million in outstanding district debt as of June 1, 2026. For how the state grades the district’s money management, see our breakdown of the Gunter ISD FIRST rating, which went from a C to an A in TEA’s 2025–26 ratings.

Timeline: how we got here

• May 7, 2022: voters approve the $78.8 million bond, including $12 million for land.
• December 2022: a board presentation studies a roughly 120-acre high school site on Kerfoot Drive.
• March 26, 2026: a demographic study report is on the board agenda. The district says Zonda Demographics presented its 2025–26 study that spring. KTEN quoted the superintendent saying the study was done the previous November.
• May 2026: State of the District meetings walk families through the study.
• June and July 2026: board agendas include enrollment projections, a long-range facilities planning committee report and closed-session land discussions.
• July 24, 2026: KTEN reports the district is moving away from the JC Maples Road site.
• September 21, 2026: the board agenda lists resolutions to buy small strips of land, using eminent domain if needed, for a road to district-owned property where Gunter ISD plans “a transportation facility or other Gunter ISD facility.” The agenda doesn’t say what that facility will be, and outcomes appear in the approved minutes.
• October 12, 2026: the board agenda includes a long-range facility planning committee presentation, an enrollment update and another closed-session land item. No site announcement has followed.

Land talks usually happen in closed session until a deal is signed, so a quiet stretch doesn’t mean nothing is happening. It does mean there is no confirmed site, and anyone telling you exactly where the new high school will be is guessing.

What parents and home buyers should check

• Confirm the school zone for the exact address. Every Gunter-area community we track lists Gunter ISD, but confirm with the district before you sign. Our Gunter ISD guide covers campuses, ratings and registration.
• Ask about attendance zones, not just today’s campus. New schools in a growing district can mean new zone lines later.
• Watch board agendas. Look for items on land purchases, the long-range facilities committee, enrollment projections and any bond election order. Texas school bond elections are usually held in May or November.
• Budget for taxes. A future bond would show up in the school portion of your tax bill. In Platinum Ranch and Taylor Ranch, PID assessments come on top of that.
• Don’t rely on sales talk. If someone says a school is coming to a neighborhood, ask whether the land has been dedicated and whether a bond has passed. As of today, neither has happened for a new high school.
• Check the current school calendar. Schedules and start times change from year to year, so use the district calendar page rather than an old screenshot.

If you’re comparing districts, our Grayson County school districts guide puts Gunter next to its neighbors. For homes, start with our Gunter TX new home communities guide, and check the Gunter development tracker for what else is coming.

Frequently asked questions

Is Gunter ISD building a new high school?

The district is planning for one, but no site, design, opening date or funding has been announced. The previously shown JC Maples Road site was dropped in July 2026.

Where will the new Gunter high school be?

Not decided. The superintendent has said most growth is expected west of SH 289, which suggests the district is looking in that direction, but no location has been confirmed.

Will there be a new Gunter ISD bond election?

None has been called as of October 26, 2026. The 2022 bond’s projects are nearly finished and did not include a new high school.

How big is Gunter High School now?

Gunter ISD reported 421 high school students on the first day of the 2026–27 school year, out of 1,233 district-wide (Gunter ISD).