Clear Creek ISD is seeing its enrollment stagnate, and officials are looking for ways to halt the trend.

The overview

The district’s student population for several years now has sat with little to no growth, and trends suggest enrollment is now dropping.

Enrollment in the area is stagnating for a few reasons, Chief Communications Director Elaina Polsen said. Some of those include:
  • Not much room to build development in the area
  • Parents staying in homes after their students graduate, meaning no turnover of new families
  • Birth rates in general declining in Texas
While the trend shows the area is stable, as families are keeping their homes, it also means the district is running into issues increasing its revenue, Polsen said.

Much of a school district’s budget in Texas is based on how many students are in the district. Combined with the state’s student allotment remaining the same since 2019, if a school district isn’t gaining students, it makes money tighter, Polsen said.


“If you’re not increasing your student enrollment, you’re not increasing your budget,” Polsen said.


The approach

To combat the trend, CCISD officials are launching a new program and expanding another one to help act as a recruitment tool, Polsen said.

The first part of the plan is expanding the tuition-based pre-K program, which has previously been capped. Last year, the district allowed about 100 tuition-based pre-K students to attend the program, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education Holly Hughes said.
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That cap is being removed, and officials will attempt to accommodate everyone who applies. While there is some revenue associated with the program, the main goal is to start students in the CCISD pipeline early so they’ll be more likely to stay in the district, Hughes said.

“We’re trying to get ahead of the need rather than responding to it,” Hughes said. “We’re trying to be proactive about providing the opportunity.”

The second program will allow certain families who qualify to attend CCISD even if they live outside the district. Students who are eligible include:
  • Those who have tax-paying grandparents in the district
  • District employees who live outside of CCISD’s boundaries
  • Federal employees who live outside the district’s boundaries
With NASA being in the district’s backyard—and it being the largest employer within the district’s boundaries—the hope is the program will accommodate many families who in the past have expressed interest in attending the district, Polsen said.

“We have talked about this program in many different forums, and many people are excited about it,” Polsen said.




The takeaway

CCISD officials said they hope the new programs will bring in about 300 new students, which would help the district maintain where its student population was in the 2022-23 school year, according to district data.

While there is room to continue to expand, officials are also aware of not overburdening the schools, Polsen said. It’s also not known yet what the cap could be on the new enrollment program as it will depend on staffing to fulfill the needs.


There is also criteria included for those applying, Polsen said. Students will be admitted based on a few things, including:
  • Attendance history
  • Behavior
  • Grades
Applications for both programs close Feb. 1, Polsen said. The deadline will be a hard one as officials will need to begin working toward accommodating all the families who are interested.

“People should apply early,” Hughes said.