Bastrop ISD enrollment up by 17% over last 5 years, more growth projected

Bastrop ISD projects almost 20,000 students in the district by 2033 due to housing growth in the area. The district's current enrollment is 13,006 students across 16 campuses.

Rocky Gardiner, director of school district consulting with Zonda Education, presented the spring 2024 demographics report at the BISD board meeting April 16. According to the report, kindergarten classes are expected to reach a record high in BISD next year with about 869 students—up from 829 this year.

According to the report, enrollment in Bastrop schools has increased by 17% over the past five years.

With eight elementary schools in the district, many campuses project being overcapacity even with the use of portables, but the construction of new campuses will help, Gardiner said.

By the numbers

The district looks at housing development to help predict the number of children to be enrolled in the coming years.

Fifty-four subdivisions are being built in the district—totaling about 4,380 lots. An additional 40 subdivisions with over 22,400 lots are currently in the planning stage, officials said. Multifamily developments, such as Valverde and Bastrop 75, are also in the works.

Also of note

Across the state, there was an increase of 12,736 charter and public school students over the 2023-24 school year, according to preliminary Texas Education Agency data. The data shows one of the smallest increase in student enrollment in the state for the past 10 years, Gardiner said at the meeting.