Editor's note: The transfer percentages as a portion of total student enrollment from the original version of this article have been corrected for Houston ISD, Katy ISD and Spring ISD. Friendswood ISD has also been added to the list of schools that saw enrollment growth from student transfers in the 2022-23 school year.

Charter schools drew thousands of students from public school districts all over the Greater Houston area in the 2022-23 school year, with Houston ISD and Alief ISD taking the biggest enrollment losses, Texas Education Agency data shows.

The breakdown

Community Impact analyzed data from the TEA to learn how many students left public school districts and where students transferred to for the 2022-23 school year. According to data for 27 Greater-Houston area schools, the districts with the highest transfer numbers were:

• Houston ISD with 51,138 net transfers out
• Alief ISD with 9,196 net transfers out
• Fort Bend ISD with 7,645 net transfers out
• Cy-Fair ISD with 5,576 net transfers out
• Aldine ISD with 5,413 net transfers out

Net transfers account for both students transferring into and out of a school district.

According to the data, some school districts saw a net increase in enrollment through transfers in 2022-23 are:

• Deer Park ISD
• Galena Park ISD
• Montgomery ISD
• Friendswood ISD
• Tomball ISD

When looking at the net transfer numbers as a portion of total student enrollment, a few different leaders emerged for top transfers-out, but Houston ISD and Alief ISD remained in the highest rankings. According to TEA data, the school districts with the highest percentages for net student transfers as a portion of total enrollment for 2022-23 were:

• Houston ISD with 27% of students transferring out
• Alief ISD with 23% of students transferring out
• La Porte ISD with 15% of students transferring out
• Spring ISD with 14% of students transferring out
• Fort Bend ISD with 10% of students transferring out

The context

While some districts lost students to other independent school districts in 2022-23, charter schools were a significant draw in the Greater Houston area, TEA data shows. Charter schools with the highest transfers in from public school districts include:

• Kipp Texas Public Schools with 33,068 transfers in
• Yes Prep Public Schools Inc. with 16,366 transfers in
• Harmony Public Schools (North, South and West) with 15,637 transfers in
• Houston Gateway Academy Inc. with 2,128 transfers in
• Baker Ripley Community Schools with 1,790 transfers in

TEA does not track the number of students who transfer out of ISDs for private schools or homeschooling.For more information or to view the TEA’s transfer reports, click here.