Rural Texas districts gained 156,204 students since 2021 as a capped state fast-growth fund pays them less than owed

Texas' rural school districts have added 156,204 students since 2021, a 13% increase, while urban districts lost 89,707 students over the same stretch, according to a Texas Tribune data analysis published this week. The state money meant to help fast-growing districts keep up has not kept pace with that growth.

The fast-growth allotment was set up by lawmakers as extra money for districts whose enrollment surges. The fund is capped at $320 million a year statewide, the Tribune reported, and when what eligible districts are owed adds up to more than that, state law requires every payment to be reduced proportionally, no matter how quickly a district is growing.

One district's gap

The Tribune's example is Cleveland ISD in Liberty County, between Houston and Beaumont. In the 2023-24 school year, the district qualified for $17 million under the allotment but got $13 million. Across six years its entitlement came to about $83 million, and it collected $69 million, leaving a $14.6 million gap.

Stephen McCanless, who led Cleveland ISD before becoming superintendent in Marfa, told the Tribune the district adopted a deficit budget every year he was there. He said the district purchased between five and eight buses annually, at roughly $180,000 apiece. The district has asked voters to approve borrowing more than three times since 2019, according to the report.

Charter schools moved in to meet some of the demand. International Leadership of Texas opened in the area at the request of Education Commissioner Mike Morath, founder Eddie Conger said, and Liberty County charters have grown by 3,379 students and six campuses since 2021-22, compared with 2,090 more students in the county's traditional districts.

Conger said the charter is offering families a different model rather than filling a gap. A Cleveland ISD spokesperson said the district does not blame charters for its enrollment decline.

What the experts say

Erin Baumgartner of Rice University's Houston Education Research Consortium told the Tribune many rural districts are growing faster than their infrastructure. For a district of 2,000 students, she said, 100 new students in a year is a big deal. Charters cannot levy property taxes or issue bonds, the Tribune noted, but they can open campuses without a bond election and can cap enrollment.

Kevin Brown, who heads the Texas Association of School Administrators, said the core issue is that a community has only so many tax dollars to go around. Education advocates quoted in the report say lawmakers could head off a fight between rural districts and charters by changing how the state funds both.

Sources

The Texas Tribune