Rural Texas districts added 156,000 students since 2021, but the fast-growth fund is capped at $320 million

Rural Texas school districts have gained about 156,000 students since 2021 while urban districts lost nearly 90,000, and a state funding pot meant to help fast-growing districts has not kept up, according to a Texas Tribune analysis published Thursday.

The Tribune counted 156,204 additional students in rural districts statewide since 2021, a 13% jump. Over the same period, urban districts' enrollment fell by 89,707. Across Texas, public school enrollment fell by over 76,000 this year, which a Texas 2036 report cited by the Tribune called the second-largest one-year drop in modern state history.

A capped allotment

Lawmakers created a fast-growth allotment to help districts absorb enrollment spikes, but the Tribune reports it is capped at $320 million a year statewide. When eligible districts together are owed more than that, every district's payment is cut proportionally.

The Tribune's main example is Cleveland ISD in Liberty County, between Houston and Beaumont, where the large Colony Ridge development drove rapid growth. For 2023-24, the formula said Cleveland should get $17 million from that pot; it got $13 million, the Tribune reported. Over six years the shortfall came to about $14.6 million.

Voters there turned down school bonds in 2019, 2021 and 2023, according to the Tribune, and the district now faces staff cuts as its enrollment growth slows. Stephen McCanless, Cleveland's former superintendent, told the Tribune the district adopted a deficit budget every year he was there.

Property wealth on paper

The Tribune also described how land sales can work against a growing district. Under the state's formula, high appraised values per student mean less state aid, and in some cases recapture payments back to the state. Kevin Brown, who leads the Texas Association of School Administrators, told the Tribune that a district can be labeled property wealthy even when its families are not.

Charters move faster

Charter schools, which cannot levy property taxes or issue bonds, have been expanding into some of the same areas. Their share of the state's public school enrollment has climbed to 8.2%, compared with roughly 5% ten years ago, the Tribune reported. Eddie Conger, founder and superintendent of International Leadership of Texas, said his network is offering families a different model rather than filling a gap.

A Cleveland ISD spokeswoman told the Tribune the district does not blame charters for its enrollment decline and is working to match staffing and resources to current enrollment and funding.

Erin Baumgartner of Rice University's Houston Education Research Consortium told the Tribune that families are moving past the suburbs into exurban areas that are often more rural, and that even 100 extra students is a big change for a district of 2,000.

Sources

The Texas Tribune