By Houston Independent School District (HISD) outlines its plans for expanding Pre-K access throughout the district.
During a June 10 community engagement event at Forest Brook Middle School, Kristen Hole, HISD’s Chief Academic Officer, presented to the public and the Community Advisory Committee the critical role early childhood education plays in ensuring literacy and long-term academic success for all students.
Chief Hole highlighted the urgent need for more Pre-K classroom space to support the district’s youngest learners.
“The early years really matter for student learning. So one of the things we are really investing in is making sure that when our 3-year-old and 4-year-old kids start with us, they can start their education opportunities strong because we know that the early years…can be really significant for the educational journey of our children,” she said.
State source data underscores the importance of early childhood education:
- 90 percent of a child’s brain develops by the age of 5.
- By age 3, students who attend Pre-K potentially have a vocabulary 60 to 90 percent larger than peers who did not attend preschool.
- Students who attend Pre-K are 40 percent more likely to read on grade level or higher by third grade.
- Students who attend Pre-K are 6 percent more likely to attend a second year of college.
This data, combined with demographic studies conducted by HISD, demonstrates the growing demand for Pre-K access in the district. Currently, an estimated 39,000 students within HISD’s boundaries are preschool age, but the district only has 14,000 seats available, leaving 25,000 students without access to Pre-K programs.
To address this gap, HISD plans to add an additional 1,500 seats to the program by the end of 2025. In the near term, nearly 700 Pre-K seats will be added across 26 elementary schools and early childhood centers before the 2024-25 school year. Furthermore, the district plans to add 100 more seats by August at yet-to-be-determined locations.
Specific schools set to benefit from this expansion include Anderson, Marshall, Mitchell, and MacGregor elementary schools, each of which will gain two additional classrooms, providing at least 40 new seats.
HISD’s long-term plan includes a $4.4 billion school bond proposal that would expand Pre-K capacity by an additional 4,000 seats if approved by voters in November. On Aug. 8 HISD board unanimously voted to place the bond on the ballot and final details will be discussed on Aug. 15.
According to the bond, a proposed investment of $200 million is required to add 4,000 Pre-K seats as follows:
- Rebuild 700 existing seats in the program
- Optimize space for 2,100 additional seats
- Utilize unused land to create 800 additional seats
- Build new early childhood center with 400 seats
- Focus on areas with largest unmet demands
This proposal would enable the district to serve all eligible 4-year-olds and one-third of eligible 3-year-olds.
This expansion is part of HISD’s broader strategy to increase early educational opportunities. Superintendent Mike Miles stated that expanding Pre-K access could help increase the number of elementary students reading “on grade level” in future years.
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