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Texas public schools are organized into geographical districts that are separate from other local units of government, including cities and counties. For this reason they are called independent school districts, or ISDs.
Independent school districts may embrace parts of two or more counties. More populous counties tend to have multiple school districts. Statewide, there are more than 1,000 independent school districts, compared to just 254 counties.
Enrollment
ISDs enrolled nearly five million students in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency, accounting for more than 91% of the public school population in Texas. Public charter schools enrolled the remaining 8.2%.
Students pay no tuition when they attend a public school in Texas.
Structure of ISDs
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) sets certain standards and policies for ISDs, but it does not directly control the school districts. Instead, each district has its own board of trustees.
Independent school districts have two levels of leadership: district-level and campus-level. At the district level, the governing body of the ISD is the board of trustees. The board makes a budget, sets policies, and appoints a district superintendent. The superintendent is the educational leader and the chief executive officer of the school district.
Each board of trustees has three, five, or seven members. The trustees themselves decide by resolution how many members are on the board, though the change only takes effect with the second regular election that occurs after the adoption of the resolution.
Trustees of independent school districts serve three- or four-year terms. Texas law allows a school district to hold trustee elections either on an at-large basis or a single-member district basis. Trustees are not paid a salary.
Once elected, school board members must complete a variety of trainings required by the State Board of Education. Topics include the Texas Education Code, public information law, team-building, identifying and reporting abuse and trafficking, and evaluating student academic performance.
At the campus level, each school has a principal who is the instructional leader of the school. Each campus also has certain administrative staff and campus advisory councils.
Power to Tax
The Texas Constitution and laws give independent school districts the power to impose a property tax consisting of two component rates: a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) rate and an Interest and Sinking (I&S) rate.
Trustees of the district decide on the M&O rate, but they must win approval from a majority of voters in the district in order to exceed the “voter approval rate,” which caps yearly revenue increases according to a state formula.
Likewise, to adopt an I&S rate, the district must secure voter approval in a bond election. School districts use the revenue from I&S tax to secure the issuance of bonds. Bond debt borrowed by districts allows them to build schools, buy land or buses, or improve sports facilities. However, bonds cannot be used to pay for salaries and operations.
In addition to revenues from local property taxes, ISDs receive some funding directly from the state government. State funding is distributed according to a state formula with a basic allotment per pupil plus adjustments for special education students and other circumstances.
School District Boundaries
School district boundaries in Texas are drawn through a process of annexation and transfer of territory as districts grow, consolidate, or divide. For example, a district might annex a new housing development built on the edge of its territory.
Unlike judicial districts and congressional district boundaries, which are drawn by the Legislature, school district boundaries are determined at the local level. However, state law governs the process by which ISDs adjust their boundaries.
Territory may be detached from one school district and annexed by another by mutual agreement if the districts receive a valid petition requesting the change.
Generally, a child must attend the school district in which he or she resides. But districts can make transfer agreements to accept each others’ students.
Within each ISD, the district itself is divided into “school attendance zones” used to assign children to schools. ISDs have different policies governing these zones and whether students residing in one zone can attend school in another.
Curriculum
All Texas school districts share curriculum requirements established by the State Board of Education and codified in Title 19 of the Texas Administrative Code.
These requirements, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), identify what students should know at the end of each course or grade level.
TEKS covers both the foundation areas of English, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as enrichment studies, including health education, physical education, and fine arts.
State Oversight
In addition to complying with state-mandated curriculum standards, Texas school districts must file academic and financial accountability reports to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and participate in annual standardized testing.
TEA runs a school financial accountability rating system, which checks on the quality of financial management practices at independent school districts.
TEA also maintains a statewide academic accountability rating system, the Texas Academic Performance Reports. These are like ‘report cards’ for each school district. Ratings are based largely on outcomes of the standardized STAAR test.
When schools are underperforming, the state education commissioner has the power to appoint a board of managers to take over the governance of the district. The commissioner may also appoint special monitors, a conservator, or a management team.
Each of these appointments has a distinct role:
- Monitors report to the Texas Education Agency on the activities of the board of trustees or the superintendent.
- A board of managers exercises the powers and duties of the board of trustees.
- A conservator oversees the operations of the district in areas of deficiency and can direct the action of a campus principal, superintendent, or board of trustees.
- A management team takes over the operations of the district in areas of insufficient performance.
Map of School Districts
For an interactive map of independent school districts in Texas, click here.
This article is part of Texapedia, the Encyclopedia of Texas Government.
