Texas public school enrollment declined by 76,000 students from the 2024-25 school year to the 2025-26 school year, but East Texas lost a relatively small number of students, data shows.
The Texas 2036 policy research group used data from the Texas Education Agency to calculate the large single-year drop in students statewide, and the organization predicts the state could lose significantly more students in the coming years. The declines could pose problems for public schools, whose state funding is tied to attendance.
The largest declines in enrollment in the state were in metropolitan areas such as Houston, Richardson and Fort Worth.
The East Texas region, meanwhile, saw some of the smallest losses in the state. Enrollment declined by 270 students in Region 7, which includes schools in Smith, Gregg, Rusk, Panola, Harrison and Upshur counties.
The region’s overall enrollment was 184,645 in 2024-25 and 184,375 in 2025-26.
Tyler ISD’s enrollment grew by 146 students while Longview ISD’s enrollment declined by 215 students, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
Further north, Region 8 – including Camp, Upshur, Titus and Cass counties – lost 727 students. That region’s overall enrollment was 55,432 in 2024-25 and 54,705 in 2025-26.
The cause of the enrollment declines is unclear, the Texas Tribune reported, though various political leaders and policy organizations have theories about it.
Hispanic students accounted for roughly 80% of the enrollment declines, and Democrats have said they believe immigration-related fears might have caused families to take their children out of school.
However, declining birth rates and a growing interest in private school and homeschool options also could be behind the decline in public school enrollment, the Tribune reported.
“The causes identified include smaller birth cohorts working their way through the grade levels, shifting migration patterns, and population movement between communities,” Matthew Prosser, chief of strategic initiatives for Longview ISD, said in an email. “Longview ISD is one district inside that demographic reality, and we’re certainly not an exception to it.”
This article takes a look at schools in Region 7 with enrollment changes of 75 or more students from the 2024-25 to the 2025-26 school year.
Several districts in Region 7 had enrollment changes involving fewer than 75 students, according to datal. Nearly all schools experienced some enrollment changes, and some schools in the region had changes of as few as five students.
Smith County
Several school districts saw increased enrollment while others mirrored the statewide trend.
Tyler ISD gained 146 students, bringing its enrollment from 18,708 to 18,854. Its Hispanic student enrollment – which makes up 48.21% of the district’s student population – grew to 9,088 from 9,056.
As the largest independent school district in Northeast Texas, Tyler also saw an enrollment increase from 2023 to 2024, according to previous data provided by Tyler ISD. That year, enrollment was up by 193 students, according to superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford.
Whitehouse ISD’s enrollment grew from 4,676 to 4,874, and its Hispanic enrollment grew from 754 to 787.
In Bullard, the district’s total enrollment was down by 66 students and its Hispanic enrollment grew from 294 in 2024-2025 to 302 in the 2025-26 school year.
In Arp, the independent school district’s enrollment decreased from 1,008 to 921.
Chapel Hill’s total enrollment was 3,186 in 2025-26, which was an increase of 114 students from the previous year. Chapel Hill ISD served 1,710 Hispanic students in the 2025-26 school year, an increase of 11 additional students compared to the previous year.
Lindale ISD had 4,632 students enrolled for the 2025-26 school year, which is an increase of 26 additional students than 2024-25. There were 953 Hispanic students enrolled in 2025-26, which is an increase of 12 more students than last year.
Local Tyler charter school, Cumberland Academy saw its enrollment drop from 2,047 to 1,519 from the 2024-25 to 2025-26 school year. Its Hispanic enrollment dropped from 562 to 417, according to TEA data. Charter school enrollment is open to any student residing in any school district and is not tuition based. Cumberland Academy provides public education for grades Pre-K through 12th grade, while also offering a Montessori school option for Pre-K through sixth grades.
Cumberland Academy first took a hit in attendance in October 2024, when 30 of 500 educators and staffers were terminated due to budget cuts. In recent months, Cumberland announced it will launch a hybrid learning model for its high school beginning this fall, with an opportunity for students to learn both online and on campus. The high school also recently announced its departure from University Interscholastic League (UIL) athletics. The switch to Texas Association of Independent Athletic Organizations (TAIAO) came in May and is ultimately tied to enrollment.
The UIL denied Cumberland’s appeal to join District 13-3A with Arp, Troup, Sabine, West Rusk, Tatum and Winona. Even though Cumberland High School turned in an enrollment of 364 students, which falls in the Class 3A range of 246-549, the UIL has separate enrollment guidelines for charter schools. If it hadn’t moved to TAIAO, the high school would’ve been in the same district as Carthage, Chapel Hill, Pine Tree, Kilgore, Gilmer, Spring Hill and Henderson for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons.
With the change, Cumberland Academy can now provide students with an opportunity to actively participate in athletics, which was restricted under UIL rules. Cumberland Academy will continue to participate in UIL academic events and competitions.
Gregg County
Longview ISD’s enrollment decreased from 8,138 to 7,923, and its Hispanic enrollment decreased from 3,493 to 3,374.
Longview ISD leaders were not surprised by the change, Prosser said. District leaders have been studying long-range projections and tracking demographic trends at the neighborhood level.
“The district has strengthened our enrollment systems, improved how families access registration, and invested in program visibility, not in reaction to a number but as part of an ongoing, structured effort to serve families well and plan responsibly,” Prosser said in an email. “At the same time, our finance team is modeling the full range of enrollment and attendance scenarios in every budget cycle, because responsible institutions do not wait for a headline to start running the numbers. They run them continuously. The appropriate word for our posture is not alarm. It is preparation.”
No single variable can explain the single-year enrollment decline, Prosser said. When a large class of students graduates high school and a smaller group begins kindergarten, the district will have a net enrollment decline, “even when the district is doing everything right,” he said.
“Housing development patterns, family mobility rates, and neighborhood demographic shifts compound that,” Prosser said.
The impact on district revenue is unclear. Texas schools are funded based on their average daily attendance, but other factors affect a district’s overall funding as well. Districts receive additional funding to educate various student groups, including students with special needs, students who are in bilingual education and students who are in career and technical programs. Local property values are part of the funding formula as well.
School officials factor those variables into annual budgets, and they make multi-year budget projections – “not single-year enrollment snapshots, precisely because the formula is too complex to be reduced to a single number,” Prosser said.
Kilgore ISD’s enrollment decreased from 3,660 to 3,586, and its Hispanic enrollment decreased from 1,426 to 1,400.
Harrison County
Enrollment at Hallsville ISD grew from 24,602 to 26,890, while Hispanic enrollment shrank from 10,510 to 10,034. Hallsville ISD operates the Texas Virtual Academy at Hallsville, which services thousands of students across the state.
Marshall ISD’s enrollment dropped from 4,957 to 4,736, and its Hispanic enrollment dropped from 1,969 to 1,927.
Rusk County
Henderson ISD enrollment decreased from 3,245 to 3,165. Its Hispanic enrollment dropped from 1,222 to 1,192.
