The Aldine Independent School District will close six elementary schools for the 2025-2026 academic year due to declining student enrollment and financial challenges. The schools set to close are Smith, Eckert, Stovall E.C./P-K/K School, De Santiago E.C./P-K/K School, Oleson, and Raymond Elementary Schools. The decision aims to help the district manage its budget, as stated by Click2Houston.
Aldine Independent School District expects to save $25 million from the school closures, but the decision faced opposition. In a recent board vote, KHOU reports that Dr. Viola M. García was the only board member to vote against some of the closures. Three weeks before the vote, district officials held community meetings to inform families about the potential changes and outline the next steps.
The district explained in an emailed statement obtained by Click2Houston that the closures "are due to several years of declining student enrollment, the lack of affordable housing throughout the community, declining birth rates, and decreased state funding." These factors led the district's board to decide on the closure plan. Aldine Independent School District continues its optimization efforts with additional cuts, following the closure of Conley, Sammons, and Gray Elementary Schools last year.
