HISD Moves Forward with School Closures to Address Underutilization and Sustain Progress

At the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year, Houston ISD will implement a series of campus closures in response to years of declining enrollment and aging facilities.

District leaders say the plan reflects both demographic realities and long-term financial sustainability while aiming to preserve the culture and identity of affected school communities and ensuring the move will continue the academic momentum culminating in having all “A” and “B” rated campuses by 2027-28. 

"We need to take action to sustain not only the gains, but also to put our district in the best position possible going forward,” Superintendent Mike Miles said at the Feb. 12 board meeting. "Even though we have to close [campuses], we're going to put the kids in a better school, better facility-wise, and as strong instructionally."

Impacted Campuses

Students attending Middle College High School at Houston City College Gulfton, Alcott, Briscoe, Burrus, Franklin, Nat Q. Henderson, Port Houston, and Ross elementary schools will be enrolled into new campuses this fall. 

Meanwhile, students at the current Cage and Hobby elementary schools will be co-located at another campus, sharing a building but retaining its own identity. Fleming and McReynolds middle schools will merge into one school that will be co-located at the current Leland College Preparatory campus. 

In accordance with state requirements, the district will continue to provide programming at all campuses for students identified as emergent bilingual, gifted and talented, and special education. All families affected by the closures will continue to receive pre-K services, including Hobby Elementary students that will attend King Early Childhood Center

Campuses affected by the closures, 2026-27

*Campuses will be co-located at receiving schools, retaining its own identity.
**Flemings and McReynolds middle schools will be consolidated into one school and co-located at Leland.

 

K-12 students who are impacted by a school closure will have the option to receive HISD transportation directly from their current campus to their receiving school site via a shuttle. This service will be provided for the duration of the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. Students who receive specialized transportation in accordance with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan will continue to receive those services.  

Aging, Underutilized Infrastructure

Many of HISD’s school buildings are significantly older than those in neighboring districts and charter systems, while being built for a demographic and infrastructural landscape that is dated and doesn’t reflect the school’s needs. For example, Briscoe Elementary was built in 1928—five years after the district’s inception—and can accommodate three times the amount of students it currently serves. 

According to the district’s Facility Condition Index (FCI)—which compares the cost of repairs to the cost of replacement—96 campuses across the district are considered “in need of replacement.” The campuses selected for closure represent over $250 million in repair funds across deficiencies commonly including failing HVAC systems, roofing failures, and deteriorating building envelopes, which Chief of Facilities, Maintenance, and Operations Alishia Jolivette said affects students’ comfort, attendance, and instruction delivery. 

Affected campuses
Zoom in and click each campus to see its building date, Facility Condition Index (FCI), and utility rate.

Note: Liberty High School will absorb Middle College High School HCC Gulfton, both of which currently share an HCC facility that is not part of HISD.

 

These repairs—considered major capital investments—can only be funded through voter-approved bond programs, maintenance tax notes, targeted grants, and budgeted allocations that Jolivette said exceeds the district’s capacity. 

Compounding the issue, more than half of HISD campuses are underutilized due to demographic shifts. To repair the campus facilities would mean to sustain a building that will not be used. Jolivette said that underutilized campuses at 40% to 50% will cost the district the same as a fully-utilized building at 80% to 90%, though the district is only bringing in half the student allotments to maintain them. 

District leaders say the closures plan is intended to better match the district’s facilities to enrollment and limited capital funding to repair these buildings. 

“The district cannot continue operating a footprint built for a much larger student population,” Jolivette said. “We cannot continue spreading limited dollars across many aging, underutilized buildings at the expense of student learning conditions.”

When campuses such as Pleasantville, Gallegos, and Carrillo elementary schools—which are nearing or surpassing replacement need—were selected as receiving sites, the decision was based on more than FCI alone. Jolivette said district leaders evaluated recent capital investments and geographic and transportation impacts. She said in these cases, consolidating two or three underutilized schools into a single site—even one with a high FCI—reduces overall maintenance exposure and operating costs compared with sustaining multiple aging buildings.

“The decision is not based on which single building is cheaper to repair in isolation,” she said. “The alternative would be sustaining multiple aging and/or failing buildings simultaneously.” 

Changing Demographics 

District officials said that the decline in enrollment is not the result of a single issue, but rather a combination of demographic, economic, and environmental factors.

Over the past decade, U.S. birth rates and K-12 enrollment have steadily declined, creating concerns about a long-term “birth dearth”—where the people being born do not replace the people dying—and financial strain on schools, EdSurge reported in 2025.

Specific to disaster-prone geographic regions, officials said the district population is affected by the long-term impact of natural disasters. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 displaced more than 30,000 people, disproportionately affecting low-socioeconomic families who lacked the insurance or resources to rebuild and forcing many to leave the city entirely, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimated in 2017.

Smaller flooding events have continued this trend, as the Gulf region is identified by 2024 research by the First Street Foundation as having a high concentration of Climate Abandonment Areas, where flood risks outweigh the area’s pull factors, such as the job market and local amenities, leading to population loss.

This migration is being accelerated by a shortage of affordable housing and escalating living costs in Houston—conditions that a 2024 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition ranked as the second worst in the nation. As housing development in the area shifts toward higher-end properties, economically disadvantaged families are being pushed further into the outskirts of the metro. District data suggests this is a regional trend; surrounding districts like Aldine, Alief, and Pasadena ISDs are also seeing enrollment drops.

Beyond physical displacement, demographers have pointed to the expansion of charter campuses within the last 10 years as a factor in declining enrollment rates, even among districts that were once considered the fastest growing. In the 2024-25 school year, over 90% of students who have transferred out of HISD have enrolled in area charter schools, according to Texas Education Agency reports.

This year, Fort Bend ISD is voting to consolidate seven schools. Over the last two years, Aldine ISD has consolidated six campuses, and Spring ISD is set to consolidate two campuses.

Outside of the Houston metro, Austin and San Antonio ISDs have opted to close 10 and 15 schools, respectively, within the last two years. Nationwide, Cleveland Metropolitan School District has approved 29 closures, Atlanta Public Schools has approved 16 closures, and Boston Public Schools has approved seven closures.

Maintaining Academic Progress and Growth 

With the exception of Briscoe Elementary, all consolidated and co-located campuses are part of the district’s New Education System (NES), a curriculum incorporated to support academic growth at historically struggling campuses.

This instructional model, that has led to widespread academic growth across the district, will continue to be incorporated at the receiving campuses, including for former Briscoe Elementary students at Carrillo Elementary. 

Across the district, including at receiving campuses, officials said HISD is still “on the path” to have all campuses rated “A” or “B” by August 2027.

District leaders recently pointed to mid-year Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test growth as an indicator for continued academic progress, particularly for the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) scores and accountability ratings for the 2025-26 school year and beyond.

Additionally, the district will retain its highest-performing teachers to help ensure that the success achieved at these closing campuses continues at the relocated sites. Miles has stated that, having already demonstrated strong results within the NES system, these educators are well-positioned to replicate similar academic growth at the receiving campus.

“Our goal is to make sure students don’t lose momentum during this transition,” Miles said. “The teachers who have already driven strong academic gains know what works. By placing our highest-performing teachers where they can impact more students, we are building on that proven success for kids.”

Preserving Culture and Community 

Research published in 2022 by The Russell Sage Foundation highlights that, particularly within Hispanic communities, schools serve as foundational pillars of stability and support. During periods of heightened immigration enforcement, these institutions become even more vital, as the protective networks formed by staff and parents help strengthen families’ social capital and sense of security.

District leaders say that although buildings may close, the goal is to preserve the programs and support systems that families rely on, including access to school counselors and essential and expanded services through Sunrise Centers and Hazel Health. Those services are coordinated through the district’s Continuum of Care model, which connects students to academic, behavioral, and mental health resources to ensure no one is overlooked during transitions.

The district also plans to establish legacy committees for each closing campus. After spring break, members of the Family and Community Partnerships team will contact stakeholders and volunteers to begin planning. Those committees will meet in the final months of the school year to identify ways to honor each campus’s history, traditions and impact. Alumni, families, staff, and community members will be invited to help shape how those legacies are preserved.

“HISD recognizes that losing a home campus can impact a student’s emotional well-being,” Najah Callander, deputy chief of Family and Community Partnerships, said. “The District is committed to ensuring that alumni, families, staff, and community voices help inform how each school’s legacy is recognized and preserved.”