Charter schools drew thousands of students from public school districts all over the Greater Houston area in the 2024-25 school year, with Houston ISD and Alief ISD taking the biggest enrollment losses, Texas Education Agency data from March 6 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 2024-25 school year.

According to data for 28 Greater-Houston area school districts, the ones with the highest transfer numbers were:
  • Houston ISD with 58,406 net transfers out
  • Alief ISD with 9,701 net transfers out
  • Fort Bend ISD with 8,601 net transfers out
  • Cy-Fair ISD with 6,416 net transfers out
  • Aldine ISD with 6,402 net transfers out
Net transfers account for both students transferring into and out of a school district.

According to the data, some school districts that saw a net increase in enrollment through transfers in 2024-25 are:
  • Deer Park ISD
  • Galena Park ISD
  • Montgomery ISD
  • Friendswood 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 HISD and Alief ISD remained in the highest rankings. Community Impact reporting from last year shows a 6% increase in student transfers from HISD.


According to TEA data, the school districts with the highest percentages for net student transfers as a portion of total enrollment for 2024-25 were:
  • HISD with 33% of students transferring out
  • Alief ISD with 25% of students transferring out
  • Spring ISD with 17% of students transferring out
  • La Porte ISD with 16% of students transferring out
  • Aldine ISD with 11% of students transferring out
  • FBISD with 11% of students transferring out
The context

While some districts lost students to other independent school districts in 2024-25, 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 32,771 transfers in
  • Yes Prep Public Schools Inc. with 19,573 transfers in
  • Harmony Public Schools (North, South and West) with 17,775 transfers in
  • Houston Gateway Academy Inc. with 2,157 transfers in
  • Raul Yzaguirre 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.