"Everything's Bigger in Texas...

...and Backwards!"
The price tag for the new 18,000-seat stadium for Allen High School appears set at $59.6 million, which is just under what Allen Independent School District voters approved in a bond election a few years back.

Allen ISD trustees gave their OK Monday night to a maximum construction cost of $53.5 million. When furniture, architectural fees and other costs are added in, the cost increases by about $6 million.

After doing some research on the Allen County Independent School District, Allen High School is not only the lone high school in the district, but it's bigger than Shaw University and St. Augustine College put together.  If you include every school in the district, there are over 18,000 students.  Allen ISD enrollment is projected to increase steadily at a rate of approximately eight percent per year over the next 10 years. 

The one thing I will applaud the school district on is they do graduate their students.  Based on preliminary numbers from 2009, 99% percent of the class graduated.  My question is how many of those students enrolled in institutions of higher education?  In addition, how many of those students who were high achieving but unable find the state or local funds to enroll at these institutions because they were unable to receive money federally because of their ethnicity or status within the U.S?  Why not invest money into these students versus a stadium?

I'm sure Allen ISD is not the only one of its kind.  But when you are in the state of Texas where High School football is worshipped more than one's faith, news like this tend to stick out...regardless if it makes sense or not.  Some things are just more important in life...