HOUSTON – Houston ISD is making budget and staffing cuts at campuses across the district, with school leaders notifying families about changes to classrooms, teaching positions and programs.
The district says the adjustments are tied to lower-than-expected enrollment and changes in available funding.
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But as the cuts begin to reach individual campuses, families are learning about the impact through letters and notices from their schools.
I reached out to HISD last week with questions about the districtwide cuts, including whether campuses were being given specific dollar-per-student reductions and whether school leaders were being directed to cut personnel rather than other expenses.
The district did not respond to those questions by my deadline and still haven’t responded.
As a result, I have been crowdsourcing information from the HISD community, with families and community members sharing school notices describing the changes happening at their campuses.
HISD describes the changes as part of its annual campus-leveling process, which compares projected enrollment with the number of students actually enrolled. HISD has also said some employees may be reassigned to schools with staffing needs.
The questions HISD did not answer
I sent HISD the following questions last week:
“I am reaching out hoping you can share some details about district wide cuts or at the least confirm what I am hearing from multiple people across the district.
1. Are non-NES schools told to cut $200 per student?
2. Are NES schools told to cut $100 per student?
3. When were school leaders notified of the dollar amount they would need to cut in budget?
4. Can you confirm if school leadership is told they have to get rid of personnel instead of things? I am told something to the effect of, “you can’t get rid of things, you have to get rid of personnel.”
5. Are NES schools still taking substitute teachers?
I did receive the statement from the district about low enrollment is reason for these cuts. I am hoping to get specific details on the above questions. My deadline for comment is today Thursday, September 24 at 4 p.m.”
HISD did not respond to my request for comment.
The district did send a notice out last week regarding ‘staffing and budget.’
“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,” Superintendent Mike Miles said in a September 22 release. “But we also have to adjust when enrollment and revenues change.”
What schools are telling families
While HISD has described the cuts broadly, individual campus notices show what the changes look like inside schools.
The following information comes from notices shared with me by members of the HISD community.
The Rice School
At The Rice School, families have been notified about changes involving the Elementary STEM Lab and first-grade classrooms.
Principal Zachary Lyons wrote to families that beginning Monday, September 28, students would join new first-grade classrooms.
“Beginning Monday, September 28, 2026, your child will join a new 1st grade classroom as we make adjustments to best support our students and their continued success.”
Lyons said the school was working to communicate classroom assignments to families.
A separate notice to STEM Lab families says there will be a change involving the teacher assigned to the Elementary STEM Lab class.
“Beginning Monday, September 26, 2026, there will be a change in the teacher assigned to your child’s Elementary STEM Lab class.”
The notices provided to me do not explain the reason for either change.
Marshall Middle School
Marshall Middle School is ending its orchestra program, according to a letter sent to families.
Principal Celisa Borom said the decision was due to “staffing and enrollment leveling.”
Students currently enrolled in Orchestra will have the opportunity to select band, dance, P.E. or art as an elective instead.
The announcement generated questions from families about whether students could attend another middle school that still offers orchestra.
In a Facebook comment on my post, Dawn Elliott asked whether some students could apply to other middle schools with orchestra programs.
Lolita Contreras Murrah commented that “every other magnet school is having to make the same cuts.”
That social media comment has not been confirmed by HISD.
Hogg Middle School
Hogg Middle School has been told to make approximately $215,000 in cuts, according to a letter sent to families.
The letter says the reduction is part of districtwide budget adjustments related to enrollment and revenue projections.
“Last week, Hogg Middle School was notified of an immediate budget reduction of approximately $215,000 as part of districtwide budget adjustments related to enrollment and revenue projects.”
Two positions are identified as being affected: an ELA interventionist position and a Journalism position.
The school says journalism will continue under the leadership of a current Hogg teacher with extensive journalism experience.
Administrators also said students would continue to receive the academic support previously provided through the ELA interventionist position.
Lamar High School
Lamar High School is facing more than $500,000 in cuts, according to a letter from Principal Rita Graves.
Graves told families the cuts were prompted by lower-than-anticipated enrollment districtwide as well as fluctuations in property tax revenues.
The programs and services identified as being affected include:
• Choir
• Agriculture
• Debate
• IBCP PPS (International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme Professional and Personal Skills course)
• Student support services
Graves said she met with employees whose positions could no longer be supported by the Lamar budget.
According to the letter, all but one of the affected employees are contracted employees and are designated for reassignment when comparable positions become available at another campus.
The employees will continue reporting to Lamar for the time being, according to the notice. When another position becomes available, the position at Lamar will be closed and the employee transferred.
Families will be notified as programs or support services are reduced or phased out.
Carnegie Vanguard loses an English teaching position
At Carnegie Vanguard High School, families were notified that the school is losing one English teaching position because of decreased enrollment across the district.
The school said the loss of the teaching position requires changes to its master schedule.
“Unfortunately, absorbing the loss of a teaching position requires us to make changes to our master schedule.”
School administrators said they worked to find a solution that would disrupt the fewest students possible while continuing to meet students’ academic needs.
Kolter Elementary faces staffing changes
Kolter Elementary families were notified about changes involving two campus positions.
An administrator wrote that the school would close its Spanish teaching position and restructure its wraparound specialist position.
The letter described the school’s language program as an important part of the campus and said administrators had explored options to preserve Spanish in the magnet rotation.
Kolter’s foreign-language program exposes students to Chinese, French and Spanish.
The school’s program description says kindergarten students rotate through all three languages before selecting a primary language of focus.
DeAnda Elementary consolidates second-grade classrooms
At DeAnda Elementary, Principal Eileen Puente notified families of a change involving second-grade dual-language classes.
Beginning September 28, four homerooms will be consolidated into three.
The change will reduce the number of second-grade homerooms at the campus.
The cuts are happening before the October enrollment snapshot
One of the biggest questions surrounding the current cuts is the timing.
KPRC 2 reported that the district’s October enrollment snapshot is still ahead. HISD uses enrollment projections developed before the school year begins and then compares those projections with actual enrollment once students are in school.
KPRC 2 also reported that a teacher at a campus that was over its enrollment projection said the school was still being required to eliminate a position.
“We are over enrolled and we will be losing a position,” the teacher told KPRC 2. The teacher said students were being shifted among teachers and electives were being changed.
HISD has answered one rumor — but not the questions about the cuts
Although HISD did not respond to my specific questions about the budget reductions, the district did respond last week to rumors circulating online that Superintendent Mike Miles had resigned.
The district said:
“It is unfortunate when unsubstantiated claims on social media begin to drive legitimate news coverage. HISD has taken the position that we will not routinely respond to social media rumors or speculation. However, given the questions we have received regarding a claim posted by Context Corner, we want to be clear: There is no truth to the rumor that Superintendent Mike Miles is leaving HISD. We are addressing this as a one-time exception and do not intend to respond to unsubstantiated social media rumors going forward.”
The district’s response confirms that Miles was not leaving HISD in response to that rumor.
The questions about the campus cuts, however, remain unanswered.
At campuses including Hogg, Lamar, Carnegie Vanguard, Marshall Middle School, Kolter, DeAnda and The Rice School, those notices show that the district’s budget adjustments are translating into changes that students and families will see directly in their classrooms and schedules.
And with the October enrollment snapshot still ahead, the full scope of the cuts may not yet be known.
For families who have received notices or messages about budget, staffing, classroom or program changes at their HISD school, please share them with me at rbalogun@kprc.com.
