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Enrollment drops in south part of county
Published September 6, 2009
As northern Brazoria County grows, so do its school districts, but those in southern Brazoria County have seen a marked decline in student enrollment during the same period, according to an informal analysis of data provided to The Facts.
Brazosport ISD, Columbia-Brazoria ISD and Sweeny ISD all saw student numbers decrease by more than 1 percent from last year. Angleton ISD, in the center of the county, saw a very small decrease in enrollment.
Danbury ISD, Pearland ISD and Alvin ISD saw significant growth, as did tiny Damon ISD. Damon had the highest percentage of growth at 10 percent, which for them equaled 16 students.
Brazosport ISD officials attribute this year’s decline in student population to recent cuts at area industry, but a look back at Texas Education Agency data shows the trends began several years ago.
THE DIFFERENCE A FEW YEARS MAKES
In the 2005-06 academic year, Alvin ISD and Brazosport ISD had an almost equal enrollment. Alvin ISD had 13,266 students and Brazosport ISD had 13,260.
Since then, Brazosport ISD has lost 656 students. After the first week of school this year, Brazosport ISD had 12,604 students.
Alvin ISD has gained 3,260 students during the same span to start this year with 16,526, and Pearland ISD has gained 2,477 students to start the year as the county’s largest district with 18,020 students, according to the Texas Education Agency Web site.
From the beginning of the 2008-09 school year to the beginning of this school year, Brazosport ISD lost 152 students, a significant drop in enrollment similar to the drop from the 2007-08 academic year to 2008-09, Assistant Superintendent Dennis McNaughten said.
The last two years’ enrollment decrease is mainly due to the economic decline, he said.
“The district’s future rests with area industry,” McNaughten said. Enrollment will rebound when area industry rebounds, he said.
Enrollment is important to any school district because the more students it has, the more money it receives from the state, McNaughten said. Less money means it is increasingly more difficult to operate a district, McNaughten said.
Brazosport ISD expects about $8 million less in enrollment-based state funding than it got last year. However, state funding aimed at teacher pay increases about equaled that amount, with the figures balancing each other out.
While McNaughten looks for Brazosport ISD’s numbers to even out when area industry does, he warned the district could continue to see lower student numbers with the completion of Highway 332 construction. Decreasing the drive time from Pearland to Freeport could result in more industry employees deciding to live in the upper half of the county, he said.
Being 30 minutes away from Houston and 30 minutes away from their job in Freeport could be appealing to some, though the advantage of having a great community is something people should consider, McNaughten said.
IN THE MIDDLE
As growth has creeped from Houston to Pearland to Manvel, the next spot down Highway 288 is Rosharon, some of which is in Angleton ISD.
That’s where Super-intendent Heath Burns expects Angleton ISD’s growth to be, but that could take years, he said.
“We have no doubt big growth is coming to Angleton ISD,” Burns said.
Angleton ISD encompasses a lot of land, and the northern part is where the district will see the most growth, Burns said.
When a committee put together new elementary district boundaries this year, members kept that expected growth in mind.
Angleton ISD shed 27 students this year, a loss mostly attributed to students who do not start coming to school until after Labor Day, said Beverly Whitton, public education information management system coordinator.
“We vary from year to year,” Whitton said. In the past, the number has always been 15 to 20 students more or less than the year before, she said.
Columbia-Brazoria ISD reported an enrollment loss of a little more than 1 percent this year, though typically the district’s enrollment has stayed relatively flat, said Steven Galloway, Columbia-Brazoria ISD assistant superintendent.
“It was somewhat of a surprise,” Galloway said of this year’s dip. However, the district still could receive some students in the next few weeks, he said.
Sweeny ISD lost 32 students from last year’s numbers. Student enrollment there has remained constant for the last several years, so Superintendent Randy Miksch was unsure of the reason for the drop, he said.
GOING UP
Alvin ISD gained 501 students this year, a 3 percent increase in enrollment, but that wasn’t a surprise, district spokeswoman Shirley Brothers said.
Alvin ISD is one of the fastest-growing districts in the Houston area, she said. In fact, new campuses already have portable buildings set up to handle student overflow.
High-growth Manvel is included in Alvin ISD, as is Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland.
Several master-planned subdivisions are planned for the Highway 288 corridor, and over the next 10 years, Alvin ISD is projecting 9,000 additional students, she said.
A Nov. 3 bond issue asks Alvin ISD voters to approve $70 million in bonds to put toward three new schools and the purchase of land for a third high school.
Danbury ISD gained 22 students this year, a typical increase for it, Superintendent Eric Grimmett said.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Grimmett said. Each year Danbury ISD sees about 10 to 20 new students, though enrollment dropped slightly from 2007 to 2008, he said.
It was just a year ago when Damon ISD was crunching numbers, trying to avoid consolidation with another district to bring in more revenue. Now officials there are talking about an expansion to accommodate the growth.
The district serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and saw an increase of 10 percent from 2008 to 2009, Superintendent Donald Rhodes said. The district saw a similar increase last year.
“The additional students have brought about the need for additional teachers,” Rhodes said.
In Pearland, the district also has continued to see marked growth, said Pearland ISD spokeswoman Renea Ivy-Sims. Though the district expected its numbers to level out this year, they saw an increase of 762 students, she said.
On the day the new Glenda Dawson High School opened, it housed 1,922 students, she said.
Katlynn Lanham is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0150.
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LOSSES & GAINS
Enrollment figures for Brazoria County school districts.
Alvin ISD
• Last year: 16,025
• Current: 16,526
• Difference: +501 or +3.1 percent
Angleton ISD
• Last year: 6,321
• Current: 6,294
• Difference: -27 or -0.4 percent
Brazosport ISD
• Last year: 12,756
• Current: 12,604
• Difference: -152 or -1.2 percent
Columbia-Brazoria ISD
• Last year: 3,108
• Current: 3,066
• Difference: -42 or -1.4 percent
Damon ISD
• Last year: 159
• Current: 175
• Difference: +16 or +10 percent
Danbury ISD
• Last year: 744
• Current: 766
• Difference: +22 or +3 percent
Pearland ISD
• Last year: 17,258
• Current: 18,020
• Difference: +762 or +4.4 percent
Sweeny ISD
• Last year: 1,965
• Current: 1,933
• Difference: -32 or -1.6 percent
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