HISD Superintendent Mike Miles goes over his slides during a school board meeting at Hattie Mae White Education Center in Houston on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Houston ISD is cutting staff, reassigning employees and reducing campus budgets after steep enrollment declines so far this school year.
HISD reported just over 155,600 students enrolled as of Sept. 4, which is a drop of nearly 10,000 students from September 2025, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
Texas public schools will not count their official enrollment until Oct. 31, and HISD’s student population typically grows between the start of school and then. But the early decline points to a tight financial year for the district, which expected to lose only 4,000 students — or $50 million in funding — this school year. The state funds public schools based on attendance, so declining enrollment in HISD and other districts creates financial pressure.
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HISD had 9,691 fewer students on Sept. 4 than on Sept. 5, 2025, according to district records. That represents a nearly 6% drop in enrollment.
HISD said in a statement Tuesday that the enrollment losses are part of broader financial challenges facing the district and other public schools across the country.
“We have worked hard over the last three years to put HISD on stronger financial footing while putting more resources into classrooms and increasing teacher pay,” state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said in a press release.
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“But we also have to adjust when enrollment and revenues change. We have to make responsible decisions now so the District remains financially strong and can continue investing in the things that have the greatest impact on student achievement,” he said. “We are hopeful the next legislative session will provide additional funding for Texas public schools.”
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Enrollment declines
It’s typical for a district’s student count to gradually increase after the first day of school until it reaches peak enrollment sometime between the end of September and mid-October, said University of Houston clinical associate professor Duncan Klussmann.
For example, in 2025, HISD’s enrollment climbed by around 3,500 students from Sept. 5 to Oct. 31, 2025.
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But this year’s count could point to steeper declines — and tighter budgets — than the district’s original projections, Klussmann said. He said they also point to nationwide trends as school districts grapple with charter schools, more school choice options and lower birth rates.
Texas is one of 40 states expected to lose student enrollment by the 2030-31 school year, which could lead to annual losses of $11.5 billion in state revenues, according to a June 2026 report from education nonprofits Bellwether and WestEd.
But HISD’s enrollment declines have been outpacing other large districts in Texas. They have accelerated since the state takeover began in June 2023, and enrollment declines are more pronounced at campuses within Miles’ reform model.
HISD enrolled 168,800 students in the 2025-26 school year, a loss of 4.5% of its students from the previous year. The district had 189,290 students in 2022-23, the last school year before the takeover.
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Annual staff ‘leveling’ and budget cuts
Every year, HISD reassigns and cuts staff to make sure staffing levels match school enrollment. But that process, called “leveling,” is happening earlier than previous years, according to Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson.
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She said it was difficult to understand how the district expected to lose 4,000 students, but hired so many teachers that it is now cutting and reassigning people from its 22,300-employee workforce.
Anderson questioned why the district continued to hold hiring fairs and hired to the extent it did. The district touted that it had only five teacher vacancies at the beginning of the school year, according to an Aug. 12 statement.
“I’m concerned for teachers now because they were promised jobs,” Anderson said. “They expected to be working for the entire year, at a minimum. And now they are being told that they don’t have a job, which indicates to me that there was some poor management on HISD’s part.”
Last year, HISD cut 160 teachers and reassigned 232 others during its annual leveling process. The Houston Chronicle has asked the district how many teachers are being reassigned and cut this year. HISD did not immediately respond.
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Campus cuts
Some campuses are seeing cuts despite little change to their enrollment. By Sept. 4, T. H. Rogers School had almost reached its official enrollment of about 1,100 students in 2025-26.
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But on Monday, campus leaders told parents that they had lost their librarian and an assistant principal. The popular K-8 school near the Galleria is the district’s only middle school that serves almost entirely Vanguard, or gifted and talented, students.
“I understand that staffing changes can be difficult for a school community, including me, particularly when they involve valued members of our team,” Principal Suparna Vashisht said in a statement to parents. “As we work through this process, our priority remains to ensure students continue to receive high-quality instruction and have access to the services, support and programs we offer at Rogers.”
Lamar High School faces budget cuts worth more than $500,000, due to issues with districtwide enrollment and property tax revenues, according to a recent message to families. The school can no longer afford several employees, and all but one were contracted employees designated for reassignment in the district.
“When a position becomes available, the position at Lamar will be closed and the employee will be transferred to another campus,” Principal Rita Graves said in a statement to the Lamar community. “You will be notified over the course of the year as these programs or support services are reduced or phased out at Lamar.”
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Lamar’s choir, agriculture, debate and student support services are among the programs affected by the budget cuts, according to the principal’s message. The school’s enrollment as of Sept. 4 this year is about 2,700, down from 2,790 at the end of October 2025.
Early warnings
HISD’s central office began warning school leaders about budget cuts as early as Aug. 18, when Miles told school leaders in an email that its school-based revenue for students — what’s called “per pupil operating revenue” — would be less than projected. Miles pointed to a decline in assessed property valuation, which influences the property tax revenue collected by the district.
Miles’ email did not detail how property valuation compares to previous years.
But he told school leaders that any budget changes tied to property values would come on top of any adjustments for “differences between projected and actual enrollment.” He warned leaders needed to be “disciplined” in the annual staff reassignment and cuts process.
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Houston Education Association’s former president, Michelle Williams, doubted that lower-than-expected property valuations explained the budget scramble. She said that the district should have known ahead of time about changes to enrollment or property values, and has historical data to draw upon for accuracy.
“That is an excuse to take the finger pointing from him,” Williams said, referring to Miles. “Our property valuations, that is also projected on data … If that (decline) is the case, which I don’t think it is, they should have prepared for that.”