Hutto ISD tries to keep up with rapid growth, breaks ground on new middle school
HUTTO, Texas (KXAN) — Friday night Hutto ISD leaders broke ground on its latest campus - Gus Almquist Middle School, which is expected to be complete next year.
The groundbreaking comes just after Hutto ISD Board of Trustees approved putting a $522 million bond before voters this May - most items it proposed are related to population growth.
Gus Almquist Middle School will host 1,200 students, said Tim Kunz with VLK Architects, who is helping to build the project.
He said the facility will be modern and is being designed with students of the future in mind.
"The district as a whole thought about what this campus looks like but also serve students for decades down the road," said Kunz.
The namesake of the new campus derives from Gus Almquist, a Hutto native, who graduated from Hutto High School.
Almquist served for 17 years on the school board, with terms as school board president.
After retiring from the board and from his profession of farming - Almquist then took up grounds keeping and maintenance work at Hutto ISD.
His family was present for the groundbreaking and said the location is a perfect tribute to their late father.
Daughter Paula Almquist said the school will overlook the same fields her father once tended. She hopes his spirit of service will inspire students that will walk the halls bearing his name.
"We will always think of him when we pass and every middle school kid I see I will say what middle school did you go to?" said Almquist.
This new campus is the latest way the district is trying to accommodate its rapid growth.
The three-part bond would build a new elementary school, middle school, and add additions to several existing campuses.
The $522 million dollar bond would also secure land for future school sites.
In discussions about the bond proposal, one district administration remarked that Hutto ISD was 'just behind the curve" when it came to keeping up with the population and school capacity.