Texas public schools enrolled roughly 76,000 fewer students for the 2025-2026 academic year, the first non-pandemic decline in nearly four decades. The 1.4% drop pushed total enrollment below 5.5 million students. The only comparable decrease occurred during the pandemic in the 2021-2022 school year, when schools reported a 2.2% decline.

Hispanic students accounted for 81% of this year's drop, or about four out of every five students no longer enrolled. The 2.1% decline in Hispanic enrollment, totaling 61,781 students, represented the single largest year-over-year reversal among the four major racial and ethnic groups. Hispanic students make up 53% of Texas public school students, while 24% are white and 13% are Black. Students learning English and students from low-income families experienced some of the sharpest declines, and districts in urban areas, the Panhandle and along the southern border were disproportionately affected.

Elementary schools accounted for 60% of the overall decline, and high schools accounted for 32%. Middle school-aged children have had declining enrollment in four of the last five years. The Tarrant County region saw a 1.2% decline, while the Richardson region experienced a 1.4% decline.

The Texas House education committee held a hearing on Monday focused on enrollment trends and the stability of the state's school funding system, which is based on attendance. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath addressed the figures during the hearing. "We cannot tell you the precise cause of this," Morath said. Contributing factors cited included a declining rate of Texas families having children and students leaving for other schooling options. The state is launching school vouchers later this year, which is expected to lead more families to opt out of public neighborhood campuses.

Education demographer Bob Templeton told lawmakers the trend would continue, estimating that public school enrollment could drop by roughly 500,000 in the next four to five years. "This is not another blip or a one-off. This is an inflection point," Templeton said. He said growing immigration had helped public schools manage the slump in birth rates in recent years.

Esmeralda Alday, senior director of programs and impact at ImmSchools, said she hears directly from families who question whether to send their children to school at a time when immigration officers have increased activity. She said some parents considered pulling their children from bilingual education programs or sending them to virtual schools. "I've heard it directly from the teachers, from principals, saying, 'Hey, these kids just disappeared. Can you help us locate them or help us figure out what happened to them or to their parents?' So, yes. It's fear," Alday said.

Some districts have cut programs and closed campuses despite a nearly $8.5 billion increase to public education funding approved last year. Across the Dallas-Fort Worth region, several districts have approved or contemplated school consolidation plans due to declining attendance, and several more are coping with budget shortfalls that may necessitate school closures.