HISD data shows majority of enrollment loss of 2025-2026 school year came from NES campuses

HOUSTON (KTRK) — Using HISD data obtained through a source within the district, Eyewitness News has learned that the majority of the 2025-26 enrollment drop came from the district’s New Education System schools, even though there are fewer of them than non-NES campuses.

ABC13’s enrollment report this week is based on early data, which the state will finalize later this month.

Among the families leaving HISD is Dana Ladner and her son.

“I have always been a public-school proponent. I think public school is best for the project that is America,” Ladner said.

Ladner’s son has attended Durham Elementary for five years, and the family used to love the school. She found the staff welcoming and appreciated the diverse student body. It felt right for her child until the school became a ‘school of focus’ this year.

“When some of the PTA tried to get more involved in what’s going on, why are we a school of focus? Who are we? It was a visceral negative reaction,” Ladner said.

The district gave some schools the ‘school of focus’ label because of low test scores. These schools are not fully NES, but are basically on a watch list.

Ladner says the NES guidelines at Durham do not work for her child or family. They plan to move to a private school at the end of this semester.

District data shows that even though there are fewer NES campuses than non-NES campuses, most of the enrollment loss is happening at schools using the new education system.

In the 2025-26 school year, 6,774 students left NES schools, while 1,346 students left non-NES schools. There are 130 NES campuses and 143 non-NES campuses.

INTERACTIVE: Search the map below to see what enrollment is like at NES versus non-NES campuses. On mobile device? Click here for a full screen experience.

We are still waiting for the state to finalize data on why students left the school district this year. However, according to information from an HISD source for the 2024-25 school year, most students left NES and non-NES campuses because they graduated. After graduation, 34% of NES students left for unknown reasons, 6% enrolled in private schools outside Texas, and 4% were homeschooled.

Christine Hurley is keeping her child enrolled in HISD, but she moved her child out of Askew Elementary last school year after it became an NES campus.

“It was still just too harmful, and at some point I had to do what’s best for my children, and it’s not NES,” Hurley said.

We asked Christine if she ever thought about leaving the district.

“It’s a conversation because you have to do what’s best for your children, but frankly, if we were going to switch districts, we would just have to move out of the state at this point,” Hurley said.

Hurley’s neighbor, Brianna Van Borssum, also let her two sons spend a year in NES at Askew before moving them to non-NES schools. She plans to keep her children in HISD.

“I begged my mother-in-law, who was an educator for 40 years, to homeschool my children, but that didn’t quite work out. But we’re in it with HISD, that is our option, so that is why we continue to fight and speak at board meetings and point out things that our kids deserve,” Van Borssum said.

ABC13 reached out to the district for comment. They sent a statement that said large enrollment loss began at NES campuses before they earned that designation under the state’s takeover of the district, and that “Definitionally, NES campuses are schools that struggled with chronic low student performance, and it is not unexpected that they would experience steeper enrollment losses. Over the past two years, these schools have seen substantial and rapid academic improvement across the board, including major gains in reading and math proficiency, stronger campus culture, and expanded instructional support.”

For more news updates, follow Lileana Pearson on Facebook, X and Instagram.