As Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles’ administration looks to possibly close an unspecified number of campuses over the summer of 2026, the average number of students enrolled in district schools stands at a 20-year low, according to a Houston Landing analysis.
HISD has lost more than 30,000 students over the past five years, but has maintained roughly the same amount of campuses over that time. The result is that the district runs a growing number of schools that enroll far fewer students than they were designed to serve.
“Any school that has fewer than 300 students, we are subsidizing,” Miles said Thursday at a budget workshop. “You can’t run that school and break even. We’re losing money.”
As part of budget plans Miles outlined for the 2025-26 school year, he said his team in the fall would propose a list of schools to the board to potentially close over the summer of 2026. He did not say which, or how many, of HISD’s 270 schools his administration would consider for closure.
No schools will close this summer, and any proposals to potentially shutter campuses after that will be presented to the community before any final decisions are made, the district said.
Closures are often a painful and unpopular measure among families attending the targeted schools. Prior discussions on the topic in HISD have triggered complaints that the moves would disproportionately impact predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.
Several large Texas school districts, including Aldine, Austin and San Antonio ISDs, have closed schools in recent years due to enrollment losses.
As the specter now looms in HISD, the Landing crunched the data on how school size in the district has changed over time and how HISD stacks up compared to other large urban districts. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Campus reductions lag enrollment losses
In the early 2000s, HISD both had more schools and students than it does today. Over the course of that decade, enrollment declined and the district reduced the number of campuses it operated, both at a similar pace. Over that time, HISD maintained an average number of students per school that was slightly higher than in 2023-24.
Then, in the 2010s, HISD saw an enrollment boom, adding roughly 15,000 students. Yet over that same time span, district leaders continued to reduce the number of schools they ran, meaning campuses, on average, served more students.
After a peak in enrollment in 2016-17, the number of students in HISD began to fall, with large dropoffs after Covid-19 hit and in both school years since Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Miles amid a June 2023 state takeover. But the district closed few schools. As of 2023-24, the average number of students per HISD school stood at a two-decade low.
2. Small, under-enrolled campuses
Partially due to those demographic trends, many HISD campuses now enroll relatively small numbers of students — particularly at the younger levels. Nearly half of all HISD elementary and middle schools serve under 500 students, and 18 serve 300 or less.
It can be more costly to operate schools with fewer students due to fixed costs for facilities, specialized programs and other items. HISD sends additional funds to “small schools,” which it defines as under 500 students for elementary campuses, under 750 for middle schools and under 1,000 for high schools.
Many of the small schools were designed to serve more children than they currently do. Thirty-six HISD schools operate at below 50 percent of their “building capacity,” a rate that describes the number of students enrolled compared to the maximum students the campus can hold. By 2028-29, that number is projected to swell to 57, according to projections published last year by HISD ahead of its failed bond effort.
3. HISD typical among urban districts
Having dozens of small and under-enrolled schools does not make HISD an outlier among other large, urban Texas districts. In fact, out of Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth ISDs, HISD is the only district with more than half of its campuses enrolling over 500 students.
Last year, Fort Worth backtracked on closing schools amid strong community pushback, but is now once again considering proposals to do so. Austin closed campuses roughly five years ago. Meanwhile, Dallas this year bucked a trend of declining enrollments among urban districts and slightly increased the number of students it serves.
Asher Lehrer-Small covers Houston ISD for the Landing. Find him @by_ash_ls on Instagram and @small_asher on X, or reach him directly at asher@houstonlanding.org.
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