Last week, voters in McKinney, Texas — 37 miles north of Dallas — approved building what some say will be, at least temporarily, the most expensive high school football stadium in the country. McKinney is next door to the previous holder of that somewhat dubious title, Allen, Texas...

'Anything For Our Kids'

I visited Allen back in 2010, as site preparation was just beginning on the new Eagle stadium. And it's true. I went looking for controversy.

The Internet had been abuzz for months over the stadium's $60 million price tag. People were asking questions like, "Why does a high school need 18,000 seats?" And, "What's the deal with that 38-foot wide, high-def video screen?"

As it turns out, those people were in places like New York. They were here in Boston. They weren't in Allen, Texas. At least not as far as I could tell.

I attended the last home game of the 2010 season. It was on the Friday before Halloween. Every senior and all 550 members of the marching band were in costume. Two guys dressed as the Seuss characters Thing 1 and Thing 2 were singing Journey songs during breaks in the action.

Allen was still playing in a 14,000-seat stadium — and the place was full. I walked up and down the aisles looking for anyone who thought the new 18,000-seat stadium would be too expensive, or maybe too big. Instead, I found Rob Morton. He told me that he was actually worried that the new stadium would be too small. Besides…

"There was a vote. We all voted for it. There was no controversy whatsoever," he said. "It wasn't a close vote. And so I think everyone kind of needs to settle down about that. We're gonna build it and we'll sell it out."

Sitting not too far away, sisters Zena Bender and Debrorah DelReyes didn't see what all the fuss was all about.

"No. Anything for our kids," they said. "We want them to have the best. Always. I'll pay the higher taxes for that. Not a problem."

"Anything for our kids." I heard that phrase over and over. And the voters in Allen weren't just talking about the kids who play football. On my visit to the school, I saw the studio where students produced the daily announcements in the style of a TV morning news show. The equipment looked newer and more sophisticated than the studio at the university I had attended.

But a new studio would soon be built in Allen, along with a new fine arts auditorium and career tech center.