"If you don’t plan adequately, then you’re not able to support all the students that are coming in,” Jon Maxwell, executive director of enrollment management, said at the Aug. 26 LCISD board meeting. “Everything would be on the table to ensure that we can avoid things of that nature.”
The situation
With a projected enrollment increase of nearly 72% in the next 10 years, Maxwell said LCISD officials anticipate reaching 67,412 students by the 2034-35 school year, up from approximately 48,530 students enrolled for the 2025-26 school year, per estimates from demographic firm Zonda.
Maxwell said that per Zonda data, the growth is driven by 94 active building subdivisions, over 55,000 future lots in development, and new home construction in communities like Tamarron West in Fulshear and Candela and Austin Point in Richmond.
While officials said in February there would be some alleviation from opening nearby campuses and aging communities, Community Impact previously reported that in the next decade, over half of the LCISD campuses will be over capacity.
This year, the district opened Richmond campuses at Fagert Elementary School and Secondary Complex 7 to house Tomas High School, Banks Junior High and Bielstein Middle School, in addition to Haygood Elementary School in Fulshear.
Maxwell said two new elementary campuses are planned for the 2026-27 school year, with Secondary Complex 8 scheduled for 2027-28. He said these facilities aim to relieve pressure from overcrowded campuses like Haygood, Morgan and Beasley elementary schools.
What’s being done
The enrollment management department, composed of Maxwell and Administrative Assistant Jacqueline Ortega, collaborates with city planners and developers to determine strategies like rezoning, capping overcapacity campuses and planning for new schools to manage enrollment growth.
“It’s common for school districts and municipalities to operate independently ... [creating] challenges in effective planning and resource allocation," he said. “Connecting with stakeholders, especially municipalities and planning entities, is key to long-term success in enrollment management and school development.”
Maxwell said in collaboration with the department, several committees monitor enrollment, including:
- The Campus Capacity Committee, or CCC, composed of district and campus officials who monitor campus enrollment and make staffing and overflow recommendations to Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens, identifying campuses as "Plan," "Warn" or "Cap" based on proximity to capacity
- The Attendance Boundary Committees, or ABCs, composed of community members who review rezoning options developed by Enrollment Management, incorporate community input through surveys and recommend boundary changes to the board of trustees for approval.
Following the rezoning of existing students at Melton, Randle and Terrell elementary schools to accommodate newly-opened Faggart and Haygood elementary campuses in the 2025-26 school year, the district allowed several students to stay at their campuses, per district communications.
Maxwell said legacy provisions allow eligible students—including 184 students in University Interscholastic League programs or 27 fourth-grade students affected by rezoning—to remain at their original campus despite boundary changes, allowing for minimal disruption.
Looking ahead
In the coming months, Maxwell said the community can expect to see the launch of multiple boundary committees to support the opening of two new elementary schools in 2026 and a new secondary complex in 2027.
