Fort Bend ISD families filed 8,429 applications for the state's new school voucher program, the second-highest total among Houston-area districts.
The Texas Comptroller's Office released district-level data showing how many families in each school district applied for Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) and how many received awards. KPRC 2 reported that Fort Bend ISD trailed only Houston ISD, which had 12,267 applications. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD had 5,858, Katy ISD had 5,108 and Conroe ISD had 4,704.
Of those Fort Bend ISD applicants, 2,672 received awards, also second in the Houston area behind Houston ISD's 3,953.
The numbers carry real budget consequences for the district, which serves most Missouri City and Stafford students. Jaretha Jordan, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, said the district expected to lose 700 to 1,100 students because of TEFA in 2026-27, Community Impact reported Aug. 10. That translates to between $7.8 million and nearly $12 million in lost revenue. Fort Bend ISD's applications ranked third-highest statewide, Community Impact reported.
"We won't know the full impact of [the program] until the enrollment stabilizes after school starts, no-shows are dropped and after the post-Labor Day employment period," Kelly Schlacks, executive director of finance, said in the Aug. 10 report. A more reliable enrollment count was expected by mid- to late September.
An award does not mean a student leaves. Parents must opt in and confirm their child is enrolled in a participating school before funding is finalized, according to the Comptroller's office.
Statewide demand far exceeds funding
More than 270,000 Texas students applied for TEFA when the application window opened in February and closed March 31. About 248,000 were deemed eligible, far outstripping the program's $1 billion first-year budget. A lottery prioritized applicants by disability status and household income.
The Comptroller's June 9 data identified 92,728 awarded applications statewide. On Aug. 28, TEFA announced an additional 4,500 waitlisted students received awards, pushing the total past 118,000 active awards, including more than 109,000 funded participants. The Comptroller has not released an updated district-level breakdown reflecting those additions.
Accepted students enrolling in private schools receive $10,474 per year. Homeschool students are eligible for $2,000, and students with disabilities can receive up to $30,000.
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has asked legislators to double the program's funding to $2 billion, citing more than 100,000 students still on the waitlist, Houston Public Media reported Sept. 9.
District launches retention programs
The district has responded with retention efforts. Community Impact reported that Fort Bend ISD planned to launch seven new programs under its "Redesigned" initiative for 2026-27 to recruit and retain students after five years of enrollment stagnation or decline. The district is also expected to see its smallest kindergarten class in 18 years.
Statewide, 43% of students selected for TEFA attended a public school in 2024-25, while 57% were already in private school or homeschooled, according to Texas data as of June 10.
No TEFA data for the Stafford Municipal School District appeared in the Comptroller's report. The state excluded districts with fewer than 30 applications or awards to protect student privacy.
The Comptroller's office plans to continue issuing awards to waitlisted students until all available funding is allocated.
