See Houston ISD's 'small schools,' schools in 'right-sizing' discussion on interactive map

The Houston school system will spend more than $10 million this year providing extra support and resources for schools with low enrollment -- funding that has come under recent scrutiny by administrators and trustees, leading to discussions of possible closures and consolidations.

No final decisions have been made about the future of these schools, and HISD trustees will have the final say, according to HISD Superintendent Terry Grier.

It “very well could mean closing schools, but that’s a board decision,” Grier said in December. “We want to talk to the board about options and see what they have to say.”

Nearly 90 schools in the  in the Houston Independent School District receive a “small school subsidy,” a chunk of money HISD gives to schools with few students so those campuses can provide the same resources as larger schools.

In December, HISD released a list of 66 “small schools” that it considers under-enrolled. The list of 66 included nine high schools that serve less than 1,250 students (including Houston's two oldest high schools for African-Americans, Yates and Wheatley), 15 middle schools with less than 750 students, 15 elementaries with less than 500 students and seven multilevel schools (including K-7 and K-8 facilities) serving less than 750 students.

The schools on the list of 66 serve less students than what HISD and some district trustees say is needed to run a school economically.

A majority of the 66 schools also receive the small school subsidy, which is one of four pots of individual school funding the district is looking at closely as HISD braces itself for cuts of up to $348 million from the state.

Texas Watchdog has created an interactive map that shows which schools are on the list of 66 and which schools receive the “small school subsidy” but are not on the list of 66.

The schools with red icons on the map are on HISD’s list of 66. The schools with yellow icons are expected to receive a small school subsidy from the district this year, according to HISD documents, but are not included in the list of 66.

The map also includes enrollment figures, state performance ratings, demographic breakdowns and “small school subsidy” funding amounts.

As Texas Watchdog previously reported, the discussion of whether to keep the small schools open isn’t just about money. It’s also about Houston’s complex racial politics and changing demographics.
   
Close to half of the schools receiving additional funding because of low enrollment numbers have student bodies in which three kids out of four are black, or three kids out of four are Hispanic, HISD records show. A dozen of the schools are at least 90% black or at least 90% Hispanic. At one school, Sherman Elementary in the city’s Fifth Ward, 99% of the student body is Hispanic.

A school must fall below certain enrollment numbers to qualify for the “small school subsidy.” For an elementary school in HISD it is 500 or fewer, for a middle school it is 750 and for a high school it is 1,000 or fewer.

The map includes “small school subsidy” amounts for schools in October and December based on enrollment figures at those times. The final school enrollment numbers used to determine each campus’ funding were not complete for the 2010-11 school year until mid-November, HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett said.

Due to enrollment changes, some campuses, like Kelso Elementary near Sunnyside in Houston, received small school funding in October but not in December, and others, like Briscoe Elementary in the Lawndale/Wayside area of Houston, which are now receiving small school funding but were not in October.

As the discussion over possible school closures and consolidations at HISD continues, Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. What do you think the district should do with “small schools?” Should the “small school subsidy” continue? Let us know what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

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Peter Heinze Wednesday, 01/26/2011 - 01:17PM Briarmeadow Middle School is a Pre-AP campus. It is part of Briarmeadow Charter School, which is a Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade program. When you enroll in the elementary school (first come first serve) the expectation is that you will continue through the 8th grade. We are a "School of Choice" and the campus is overflowing with wonderful, happy students. Class size is still 22 to 1, but many of the teachers share space. We are at capacity and would love to convert our second floor to add a fourth and fifth grade, so we can provide room for a media lab, theater arts class and classrooms. Briarmeadow in a National Blue Ribbon School that has closed the achievement gap for our minority groups and we have increased the expectations for all children. Briarmeadow is a Texas Honor Roll School for three years and has always strived to provide the finest education program. Briarmeadow provides a choice for our parents. The Briarmeadow community asked for a school that gave them input into how their children were educated, one that provided a Constructivist Philosophy, one that dug deep into the curriculum and is developmentally appropriate. Briarmeadow is not a small school, but one that is at capacity that offers HISD parents a “choice” in education, as stated in our Charter.

Jennifer Peebles Wednesday, 01/26/2011 - 07:10PM Mr. Heinze, We appreciate you taking time to comment here about your school. (For our readers who don't know, Mr. Heinze is the principal at Briarmeadow.) We'd love to hear from more HISD principals, teachers and parents about their schools. Please feel free to comment on our stories, like this one, or drop an e-mail to our education reporter, Lynn Walsh. She's at lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Thank you, and take care, Jennifer Peebles jennifer@texaswatchdog.org