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HISD superintendent says closing schools will be the last option amid troubling decline in enrollment

Sabirah Rayford

Tags: HISD, Schools closing, HISD superintendent, School, Enrollment, Millard House II

HOUSTON – At the top of the mind of Houston Independent School District leaders is enrollment.

New data from the district shows it’s down 14% since the 2016 school year.

“We’re at an enrollment of about 190,000 students, and that is significantly lower than what we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” HISD Superintendent Millard House II said.

A concern is enrollment is going down as the cost to educate a student goes up. A projected $26 million loss for the 2023 school year.

Superintendent House says this is a statewide trend. Gentrification, cost of living in the city, and COVID-19 are a few factors.

So, KPRC 2′s Sabirah Rayford asked what they’re doing to change the curve. He said to streamline the enrollment process and additional investments in Pre-K.

“We know that getting students in at an early time frame will allow us to keep them because they’ll feel good about those quality programs they’re in,” he said.

At a school board meeting on Thursday night, a graphic showed enrollment is directly linked to funding schools and departments.

A concern is school closures.

However, House says it won’t be happening this school year.

“I think it’s important that we’re very clear that anything that has to do with school closures and consolidations will be the last option,” he said

Copyright 2022 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.

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    1. HISD needed this guy probably 10-15 years ago. The damage is far too great to fix now. Years of insane corruption and incompetency, cliques in the leadership, tore this school district up. TEA shares some blame too, because they took too long to intervene and when they did, it wasn't enough. Woke liberal indoctrination and the teacher's union probably was a mere straw that broke the camels back, it certainly wasn't the original cause.

      • Superunattended.

        • So the superintendent can pay the price to keep the schools open I guess.

          • If they keep telling you that you can't achieve due to a certain race of people, they've already taken away your ability to achieve on your own merit.

            • HISD you are experiencing Right Flight. You voted for this and cheated in every election to get it. Now you get to deal with the consequences of your own tribalism. Have fun!

              • Shut them down already. Like all HISD schools, they are nothing but daycare centers. The district is rife with corruption, as usual from these people.

                • HISD has been problematic, tremendous issues, for a very long time. How about hiring Álvarez and Marsol?? They need outside troubleshooting, enough of this backscratching!

                  • Many parents, including myself, choose to homeschool their kids. No mandatory vaccines, etc.

                    • People are tired of drag queens and socialist indoctrination..and being told they are racist based on the color of their skin alone..vote down everything for public schools

                      • This is accurate sir, and a disservice to you as well you just don't want to see it.

                      • Prove it? Where is a single shred of evidence I’m wrong?

                    • When consolidating facilities and services makes the most sense for your constituents but not for the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats, you know what decision will be made. And then the tax payers who fled this madness will be blamed, called names, and receive a demand to pick up the tab.

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