Lower enrollment projected
About 98% of students are returning to EISD next year despite lower projected enrollment numbers, said Molly May, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment.
An additional 21 students were enrolled between the enrollment report June 4 and the June 10 board meeting, bringing the district’s total enrollment to 7,316 students.
Enrollment numbers could continue to increase this summer, May said, as there are still 64 new student online enrollment applications currently pending.
EISD’s most recent graduating class of 728 students is more than double the incoming kindergarten class of 350 students, but May attributed the enrollment decline to lowering birth rates and high housing costs, not the Barton Creek and Valley View Elementary blend or loss of the Spanish Immersion program.
Only 19 out of about 650 Spanish Immersion students and four out of 51 Barton Creek Elementary out-of-district transfers are not returning, per agenda documents.
“It’s been a hard year,” May said. “I think at the end of the day, most of our families decided that this is home, and that even though things are hard, they want to still be here. ... We do hear, ‘Your enrollment is dropping, so obviously everyone's leaving.’ That's not the case.”
Student code of conduct to receive legislative updates
EISD’s student code of conduct follows a five-tiered system violation levels system, which took effect last year. Each level carries varying disciplinary action.
The 2025-26 presented draft includes minor edits based on feedback collected throughout the year from campus administrators, said Audrey Shakra Hipp, EISD’s general counsel.
Some of the most notable changes for the code of conduct include:
- Clarifying a “written report” as a student discipline referral
- Adding “horseplay” and instigation of physical aggression as Level 2 offenses
- Adding “possession of weapon with a blade” and “threats to bring a gun to school” as Level 4 offenses, which result in a mandatory Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement
The bill mandates that school districts adopt a policy banning the use of personal communication devices during the school day. Legislators have said districts could provide students with pouches to store their devices, or ask students to keep devices in their lockers or backpacks.
The district’s policy committee will reconvene to incorporate these legislative changes—which includes adding a cellphone and smartphone prohibition in elementary schools—to the code of conduct, which will then be presented to the board again in August, Shakra Hipp said.
EISD to apply for federal grants
District officials are set to apply for a variety of federal grants to support low-income students, special education students, and career and technical education next school year.
The $294,354 worth of Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, grants include:
- Title I, Part A: $149,804 to fund supplemental resources to support students from low-income families at Barton Creek Elementary and Cedar Creek Elementary
- Title II, Part A: $110,933 to fund a portion of elementary instructional coach positions for each campus
- Title III, Part A: $20,714 to fund summer school costs for students receiving English as a Second Language services
- Title IV, Part A: $12,903 to fund elementary-level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills instruction in character development
Grant applications are slated to be finalized this summer, per agenda documents.
