From the Desk of Superintendent Dr . John Kelly
Student Enrollment and Facilities
In 2016 , the school district put forth a successful bond election . The proposals within it assumed that student enrollment for the next 8 - 10 years could be absorbed by renovating and expanding already existing schools – rather than by adding new schools .
Those assumptions remain on target even though the current school year provided an unanticipated surprise . While student enrollment over the past 5 years increased , on average , by 500 students per year , Pearland ISD has almost the same number of students in 2017-18 as recorded at the end of last school year .
There are a number of factors likely impacting this change . Among them are Hurricane Harvey , Texas-wide birth rate decreases affecting early elementary grades , and the diminishing amount of land within Pearland ISD boundaries available for residential developments . While Alvin ISD has a huge amount of undeveloped land within their boundaries , that is no longer the case in the much smaller geographic boundaries of Pearland ISD . Consequently , we are approaching a “ build-out ” situation whereby there is diminished capacity to “ fit ” new homes here .
We anticipate growing about 1,000 students from our current enrollment of 21,600 by the 2024-25 school year . That enrollment can be accommodated by the renovations / additions now underway throughout the district .
The stellar reputation of Pearland ISD generates a significant number of transfer requests from outside our district . We do allow such transfers – but only to schools with present and future room for them .
Changing enrollment patterns also affect revenue and expenditure estimates for our school district , but accurate projections are far more reliant on the actions of the Texas legislature .
We remain confident that renovating and expanding our current facilities , rather than building new schools , will suffice for the foreseeable future – and is a far more cost effective plan .
For those wishing to see the latest demographic ( enrollment ) report for Pearland ISD , please visit our website at http :// bit . ly / 2Cj3JRn .
Dr . John P . Kelly Superintendent of Schools www . pearlandisd . org | 5