Facts and Figures—2007–2007

2006–2007 Demographics

The Houston Independent School District, with more than 202,000 students and encompassing 301 square miles within greater Houston, is the seventh-largest public-school system in the nation and the largest in Texas. HISD schools are organized within five geographic regions (North, East, South, West, and Central) by feeder patterns composed of specific elementary, middle, and high schools; an Alternative and Charter Schools Office oversees those types of schools. Each regional office is managed by a regional superintendent who coordinates a team of executive principals to ensure the quality of instruction throughout the region's feeder patterns. Regional managers serve to strengthen the district's outreach to parents by handling parental concerns and working to improve parent, volunteer, and business-partner programs. Each of the five regions manages four or five of HISD's 23 feeder patterns.

HISD's organization is designed to emphasize teaching and learning, align school goals and programs for sustained improvement, eliminate duplicated services, and provide greater oversight of data and compliance with state laws and regulations.

Campuses and Enrollment
Academic Level	Number of Schools	Enrollment	% of All Students

Elementary	198	113,540	55.9
Middle	47	39,368	19.4
High	39	46,891	23.1
Combined/Other	11	3,137	1.5
Total	295	202,936	100.0

Students by Ethnicity
Ethnicity	Number of Students	% of All Students

African American	59,274	29.2
Asian	6,368	3.1
Hispanic	120,354	59.3
Native American	139	0.1
White	16,801	8.3
Total	202,936	100.0

Students by Grade Level
Grade	Number of Students	% of All Students

Kindergarten & Earlier	32,202	15.9
Elementary 1–5	81,071	39.9
Middle School 6–8	41,788	20.6
High School 9–12	47,875	23.6
Total	202,936	100.0

Students by Program
Program	Number of Students	% of All Students

LEP	55,461	27.3
ESL	14,463	7.1
Bilingual	38,032	18.7
At Risk	134,139	66.1
Title I	188,849	93.1
Special Education	20,226	10.0
Gifted/Talented	24,378	12.0
Economically Disadvantaged*	158,286	78.0

*Meet federal criteria for free and reduced-price lunches.

HISD operates under the auspices of the Texas Education Agency, using a core curriculum based on state guidelines for prekindergarten through twelfth grade. Instructional offerings include Magnet and Vanguard/SIGHTS programs, charter schools, and alternative programs that use innovative instruction to help students who are at risk of dropping out of school. Also offered are programs in early-childhood education, Special Education, multilingual education, career and technology/vocational education, and dual credit/advanced academics.

Academic Achievement

The Texas Education Agency Accountability System is a method for evaluating school districts and campuses with regard to their performance on certain “base indicators.” Districts and schools may be rated as Exemplary, Recognized, Academically Acceptable, or Academically Unacceptable. Classification is based upon student performance indicators using passing rates from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and the State-Developed Alternative Assessment (SDAA) and dropout and four-year completion rates. These indicators are used to provide 36 possible performance measures for all students and for African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged student groups. The school district receives its rating based on the performance of its “lowest” indicator. Since 1996, TEA has rated HISD districtwide as Academically Acceptable. No ratings were given in 2003 due to the change from TAAS to TAKS.

TEA Accountability System Campus Rating (2006)
Academic Level	Exemplary	Recognized	Acceptable	Unacceptable

Elementary	13	53	116	8
Middle School	0	9	25	12
High School	2	2	18	12
Total	15	64	159	32

*Percent Passing TAKS, Grades 3–11 (2006)**
	HISD	State

Reading/ELA	81	87
Math	66	75
Writing	89	91
Science	60	70
Social Studies	81	87
All Tests**	56	67
SDAA II (Special Education)	82	84

*The percent passing TAKS at state standard.
**The percent of students passing all the tests they took.

Percent of Grades 1–11 With an Average National Percentile Rank in the "At or Above Average Range" on Stanford*
Year	Reading	Math	Language

Spring 2002	73	91	100
Spring 2003	82	100	100
Spring 2005	100	100	100
Spring 2006	100	100	100
Spring 2007	100	100	100

*Results are for non-Special Education students

SAT Results by Ethnicity (Class of 2006)
Ethnicity	% At or Above Criterion*	% Tested	SAT I Mean

African American	9	27.6	1285
Asian	57	8.3	1683
Hispanic	11	37.3	1312
White	55	18.5	1689
Other	32	3.0	1496
Total	24	-	1415

*The criterion is 1110 on the SAT.

School Completion (Class of 2005)
Student Status	District	AA	A	H	W

% Graduated	73.8	75.8	90.4	68.3	86.4
% Received GED	2.3	1.8	1.0	2.0	5.2
% Continued HS	11.4	10.4	4.4	14.5	3.2
% Dropped Out (4 year)	12.5	11.9	4.2	15.3	5.2

Abbreviation Key: AA = African American, A = Asian, H = Hispanic, W = White

Adequate Yearly Progress (2006)
Academic Level	AYP	Missed AYP

Elementary	178	8
Middle School	33	16
High School	19	16
Combined	3	2
Total	233	42

TAKS/SDAA Participation, Grades 3–11
	Spring 2006

Answer Documents	129,973	5%
Not Tested	6,499	5%
Tested	123,474	95%

Bond Program

Committed to providing Houston's children with safe, comfortable, attractive, inspiring schools, HISD created a districtwide facilities-to-standard program to repair, renovate, and build schools with funds from bond issues, with all repairs based strictly on need. Approved by voters in November 2002, the district's $808.6-million bond issue, Rebuild HISD, will:

build 26 new schools and 4 early-childhood centers
expand 8 schools and renovate 25 campuses
upgrade 195 elementary-school science labs
air-condition 52 gymnasiums
create 125 safer playgrounds

Personnel

HISD is among the largest employers in Houston, with approximately 29,000 full- and part-time employees. Most HISD personnel are assigned to schools and deliver services directly to students on a day-to-day basis.

Employment as of January 2007
Position	Number Employed

Teachers	12,721
Principals	255
Assistant Principals	338
Counselors	239
Librarians	176
Nurses and Psychologists	318
Teaching Assistants/Clerks/Aides	3,806
Police Officers	272

HISD also employs approximately 117 administrators in its central and district offices and nearly 10,645 full- and part-time employees who serve as substitute teachers or furnish specialized support services, such as technology, transportation, food services, and crafts and trades.

Teachers’ Salaries (10 months)
Degree	Salary Range

Bachelor’s Degree	$36,050–$58,369
Master’s Degree	$37,080–$61,512
Doctorate	$38,110–$64,657

Budgeting and Financial Planning

General Fund Budgeted Sources of Revenue in 2006–2007
Source	Amount	%

Local	$1,043,115,374	73.6
State	$350,903,070	24.7
Other	$17,975,000	1.3
Federal	$5,163,139	0.4
Total General Fund Revenue	$1,417,156,583	100.0

General Fund Budgeted Expenditures in 2006–2007
Item	Amount	%

Salaries	$1,134,370,213	78.6
Contracted Services	$172,523,831	12.0
Supplies and Materials	$44,843,956	3.1
Other Operating Expenses	$52,462,608	3.6
Debt Service	-	0.0
Capital Outlay	$17,138,010	1.2
Other Uses	$22,238,501	1.5
Total General Fund Expenditures*	$1,443,577,119	100.0

*Excludes Medicaid and Food Services

General Fund Summary
Tax Rate Per $100 of Value	$1.4757
Total Revenue	$1,471,156,583
Total Revenue Per Pupil	$6,983
Total Expenditures	$1,443,577,119
Total Expenditures Per Pupil	$7,113
Total Operating Expenditures Per Pupil	$6,808

Per-pupil figures are based on an enrollment of 202,936 from the 2006–2007 PEIMS Fall Collection.

Total taxable property value: $83,000,000,000 (Anticipated 2006–2007)
Homestead tax exemption: $15,000 + 20% of assessed value; additional exemption of $15,000 for homeowners age 65 or older

Thanks to exceptional fiscal management, HISD has long maintained the lowest property tax rate among school districts in Harris County and currently has the fourth-lowest property tax rate among the 13 largest school districts in Texas.

For detailed information about the district’s finances, visit the Budgeting and Financial Planning Web site.

SOURCES:

Demographic Data: TEA Public Education Information Management System; Academic Achievement Data: TEA 2005–2006 AEIS Report and HISD Research and Accountability Department; Personnel Data: HISD Human Resources Department; Finance Data: HISD Budgeting and Financial Planning Department, 2006–2007 Adopted Budget.