Morrisville is getting another school. But just what kind will it be?

Morrisville is getting another public school, but it's undecided yet whether it will be a middle school or high school.

The Wake County school board agreed Tuesday to pay $7.7 million to the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina to buy 44 acres on Little Drive near the intersection of Davis Drive in Morrisville. The property is next to the future Parkside Elementary School, which school officials held a groundbreaking for on Wednesday and plan to open in 2019.

School officials say they haven't decided yet when the new school will be built or what grade levels it will offer. But the purchase comes at a time when Morrisville town leaders and residents have complained that the school district doesn't have either a middle school or high school in the fast-growing western Wake community.

A 44-acre site is closer to the size that would be used for a Wake middle school. But school officials have talked about how they'll have to be more creative about building high schools on smaller sites because large parcels of land are getting hard to acquire.

School board member Kathy Hartenstine, who represents Morrisville, said the district has shared with the town designs for different kinds of middle schools and high schools.

She said it's unlikely they'd build an elementary school there since it's next to Parkside.

"We're leaving our options open," Hartenstine said. "We're in the creative stage of things."

News of the land purchase was cheered by several Morrisville officials and parents.

"Awesome news! Great job WCPSS!" tweeted Morrisville Town Councilman Satish Garimella.

Morrisville Mayor TJ Cawley tweeted that he was "looking forward to details about this purchase!"

The purchase will go before the Wake County Board of Commissioners, who have the final say on the land purchase.

This story was originally published June 20, 2018 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Morrisville is getting another school. But just what kind will it be?."