MIDLAND, Texas — Ranchland Hills Golf Club is set to be the potential destination for a new high school for Midland ISD.
A group of local Midlanders calling themselves Save Ranchland Hills, however, is hoping to have a discussion with MISD over the land that hosts not only golf but also weddings, charity tournaments and golf practice for the local schools.
“We’re simply going to be asking the school board to take a breath and slow down just a little bit here,” Bill Kirby of Save Ranchland Hills said.
MISD bought the Ranchland Hills land back in 2019 and has been moving forward with their plans for new buildings ever since their bond passed.
Save Ranchland Hills has spoken with Midland County and the City of Midland and says that there are other locations that could be considered.
“There are some other options available rather than just destroying Ranchland and building a school on that property," Kirby said. "There's some options on the table and we'd like to discuss it with the board.”
While the loss of the golf course stings it isn’t the only reason that Save Ranchland Hills is making their move right now.
“Not just golf, but golf is certainly a focal point," Kirby said. "Ranchland for one is historic; it's been out here for 70 to 75 years, and Ranchland does so much to help the community.”
To some, Ranchland is one of the only viable options to put these new schools because it’s the only place that could make sense.
“Ranchland was the only piece of property that we could find 100 acres to put a new school within the city limits," Reagan Hignojos said. "If you build outside of the city limits, there's no sewer, there's no water, there's no electrical infrastructure, and there's no road."
With class sizes continuing to grow and showing no signs of slowing down, supporters of the bond say that new schools need to be built without delay.
“Projected enrollment right now [shows] we are already overcrowded at both campuses," Hignojos said. "Any more delay is just going to exacerbate a problem that we already have with overcrowding.”
Save Ranchland Hills admits that these schools are good and even needed for the City of Midland and agrees with the voter's choice to approve the bond.
At the same time, they’re hoping that by working with MISD, everyone can come out of this a winner.
“We need it. We got to move forward in this city, hopefully partnering with MISD," Kirby said. "We will continue to move forward, saving Ranchland Hills and doing good things for this community.”