What’s With The Box?

If you drove down South Bois D’Arc Street this weekend and passed the Forney ISD administration building, there’s a good chance you saw the giant box crate out front. It’s massive, and stamped prominently in vibrant green hues are the words, The OC.

Well, that’s rather cryptic. What does The OC mean? Orange County as in the sunny, beautiful LA suburb? The O.C., the popular teen drama of the 00s? Moving on to Google search, What does the OC stand for? brings up dozens of definitions for OC as an acronym – Of Course, Orange Crush, Original Content, Oceanic Crust. A few college abbreviations. Nothing that has any obvious or even remote tie to Forney ISD.

So, what does the high-achieving Forney ISD have planned for the Forney family? No mention of anything called The OC on their website but a quick check of their Facebook page found a recent video of Superintendent Dr. Justin Terry with a mischievous look on his face asking, “What is that?” while there is a loud knocking that seems to come from within the box. Post hashtags are #theoc and #forneyfamily.

What is that indeed? A call to Forney ISD Superintendent Dr. Justin Terry didn’t give any definitive answers – but you could hear excitement in his voice.

“Forney ISD is one of the fastest growing school districts in Texas and is expected to double in size in the next 10 years,” said Dr. Terry. “This tremendous growth is due to our incredible schools and the countless opportunities and challenges we offer to maximize the potential of each learner.”

Neither did a call to Board President Greg Pharris.

“Forney ISD has a long history of innovation and forward thinking,” said Pharris. “This soon to be unveiled project is the next catalyst in our continuous journey to inspire and empower excellence for our Forney Family.”

Forney ISD has enjoyed an impressive string of successes in recent years. The district earned the highest ranking possible from the state for financial integrity and also improved its bond rating to A+. This strong rating has allowed the district to refinance existing bond obligations, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Whatever The OC is, Dr. Terry promises our community will find out more in the coming months. In the meantime, we will have to wait and wonder what opportunity is knocking at our front door. And knowing Forney ISD, this will be one surprise definitely worth waiting for.