Fort Bend Independent School District

Last updated
Fort Bend Independent School District
FBISD District logo.png
FBISDAdmin.jpg
Administration Building
Address
16431 Lexington Blvd
Sugar Land
, Fort Bend County, Texas, 77479
United States
District information
TypeSchool District
MottoInspire, Equip, Imagine
GradesPre K-12
EstablishedApril 18, 1959 (April 18, 1959)
SuperintendentDr. Marc Smith (January 8, 2024–current)
School boardJudy Dae (President-P2), Dr. Shirley Rose-Gilliam (Vice President-P4), David Hamilton (Secretary-P7), Kristen Davison Malone (P6), Rick Garcia (P3), Angie Hanan (P1), Sonya Jones (P5)
NCES District ID 4819650 [1]
Students and staff
Students80,000+ (January 2023)
Staff11,000+ Full & Part-time
Other information
Website https://www.fortbendisd.com/

Fort Bend Independent School District, also known as Fort Bend ISD or FBISD, is a school district based in Sugar Land, Texas. It operates 86 schools in Fort Bend County It is the 5th most diverse school district in Texas and is the 43rd largest district in the United States.

Contents

The district spans 170 square miles (440 km2) covering almost all of the city of Sugar Land, the city of Meadows Place, the Fort Bend county portion of Missouri City, Arcola, small sections of Houston, small sections of Pearland (including some of Shadow Creek Ranch, which is attempting to secede from FBISD), [2] the unincorporated communities of Clodine, Four Corners, Juliff, and Fresno, and the Fort Bend County portion of Mission Bend.

Fort Bend Independent School District was created by the consolidation of the Sugar Land ISD and Missouri City ISD in 1959. The school district is the seventh-largest public school system in the state of Texas and third largest within the Houston–Sugar  Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area. The school district is currently the largest employer in Fort Bend County with more than 11,000 district employees, and encompasses some of the wealthiest locales in the State of Texas. [3]

Fort Bend ISD is distinguished by its honors. In 2010, the school district was rated "recognized" by the Texas Education Agency. [4]

The district is the only school district in the nation to be named a 2011 National School District of Character by the National Schools of Character Program in Washington DC—and only one of two districts in Texas to be honored with this designation. The Washington Post ranked Clements, Austin, Kempner, Travis, Dulles, Hightower, and Elkins High Schools as seven of the Top 2011 High Schools in the Nation.

History

Historic marker of the former Sugar Land ISD near Lakeview Elem. School. FBISD Historical Marker.jpg
Historic marker of the former Sugar Land ISD near Lakeview Elem. School.

Fort Bend ISD was formed when Sugar Land ISD and Missouri City ISD merged after an election on April 18, 1959. [3] The first superintendent was Louis P. Rodgers, who had been the Missouri City ISD superintendent upon the merger. The Sugar Land ISD superintendent Edward Mercer, became the assistant superintendent. [5]

Missouri City ISD was formed from Missouri City Common School, House Common School, and Mustang Common School (Fresno area). Sugar Land ISD was formed in 1918 and was expanded by adding Sartartia Common School and Clodine Common School in 1948. [6]

Originally FBISD was racially segregated, with white high school students attending the consolidated Dulles High School, with its permanent campus in Sugar Land, and black high school students attending M.R. Wood School in Sugar Land. [3] In 1963, FBISD had 600 students. [7] On June 23, 1964, the board of trustees for FBISD began the desegregation process via adopting a plan calling for freedom of choice for attending high schools. The plan was rejected by the commissioner of education for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the following year on May 10, 1965, it was amended to mandate full desegregation and create zones based on equal ethnic distribution. [8] The desegregation process went into effect in September 1965; [3] [8] in the post-desegregation period Dulles was the district's sole high school until Willowridge High School opened in 1979. [7] Desegregation was officially dismantled in FBISD in 1968. [8]

Rodgers died in May 1967 so Mercer became superintendent. Lawrence Elkins succeeded Mercer after the latter retired in August 1974. [5]

In 1969 the school district had 1,000 students, and its enrollment was increasing. Between 1979 and 1997, a new high school opened at intervals no more than five years apart. The district became the fastest growing school district in the State of Texas. [7] In August 1997 the district had over 14,000 students at its high schools, then numbering six. [7]

A portion of Stafford was formerly a part of Fort Bend ISD, but it broke away and formed the Stafford Municipal School District. In 1977, largely in response to district policy barring bussing for students living within two miles of their schools, the FBISD portions of the city of Stafford voted to leave FBISD for the Stafford MSD. Several rounds of legal litigation ensued, largely stemming from concerns that the secession would impede on FBISD's desegregation process and worries that it would inspire others to leave the district (most notably in Sugar Land, where a sizable number of parents did seek to leave and carve their own school district). [8] [9] Ultimately, the move was found to be constitutional in 1981. Residents in Stafford's ETJ are served by Fort Bend ISD, not Stafford MSD.

In February 1984 Rodney E. LeBoeuf became superintendent. LeBouef left in March 1991 and Raj K. Chopra became superintendent in August of that year. Chopra left on July 20, 1994. The next superintendent, Don W. Hooper, assumed power on February 15, 1995. [5]

Circa 1997 FBISD was the fastest-growing school district in Texas, with new comprehensive high schools opening in increments of fewer than five years. [7]

Hooper's retirement was scheduled for June 2002. [5]

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, the district administration chose not to make masks mandatory even though the Fort Bend county judge, KP George, issued a mask mandate. Governor of Texas Greg Abbott had prohibited local governments from issuing mask mandates. [10] In August the district board voted 4–3 to reverse its stance and require masks. [11]

Administration

The Fort Bend ISD Police Department is headquartered in Stafford. [12] Its current headquarters was the former FBISD Administration Building located off FM1092 which was later converted into a vehicle maintenance facility after the administration HQ was moved to Sugar Land.[ citation needed ]

FBISD's current administration building is located in Sugar Land, near the Town Square and First Colony Mall. There is also the FBISD Annex, which contains an auditorium/banquet hall for FBISD, as well as a shop for teachers of FBISD.

When the district was first created Sugar Land Junior High School had the administrative offices. However, there was no tax assessor-collector in Sugar Land, so the taxation office was in Missouri City as that municipality did have one. In the summer of 1961 the district opened the first dedicated headquarters. In October 1985 the current district headquarters opened. [5]

District operations

In 2019 the FBISD administration stated that it was considering changing the class ranking system so that students are ranked according to the school's attendance zones in which they reside instead of the schools which they actually attend. [13]

Athletics and extracurriculars

FBISD Athletic Facility FBISDAthletic.jpg
FBISD Athletic Facility

FBISD is known for having some of the best athletic teams in Houston. [14] All 11 high schools contain 2 gyms, Tennis Courts, a football/soccer/track field, a baseball field, and softball field, each fitted with LED scoreboards.

FBISD also manages 2 athletic complexes, complete with turf and Video/LED scoreboards from NEVCO:

Louis P. Rodgers Memorial Auditorium in Dulles High School was built in 1969. [16]

Recognitions

Seventy percent of the district's campuses received an Exemplary or Recognized rating from the Texas Education Agency in 2002. That same year, the district was named a Recognized District by the Texas Education Agency for the second consecutive year, making it one of the largest public school districts in Texas to receive that rating. Currently the district is ranked "academically acceptable" and has been for the last several years.

Austin High School and Clements High School, both in Sugar Land, have been recognized by Texas Monthly magazine in its list of the top 10 high schools in the state of Texas. In addition, Clements, Austin, and Elkins high schools ranked 313th, 626th, and 702nd, respectively, among the top 1000 schools in the United States by Newsweek .

Fort Bend ISD has been named one of the top 100 School Districts in the Nation for a Fine Arts Education, according to a nationwide survey of public and private school programs.

Governance

The current Superintendent is Dr. Marc Smith, who was chosen by the Board of Trustees on December 15, 2023. He was succeeded by Dr. Christie Whitbeck after her retirement was voted on by the Board of Trustees December 4, 2023. FBISD is served by a Board of Trustees who are periodically elected. Each trustee represents one of the seven regions in the school district.

Schools

High schools

Middle schools

Elementary schools

Other schools

Academies

Fort Bend ISD opened several magnet programs to foster small learning communities with a career based focus. Several academies are housed at different schools and are magnet programs that require an application. The district provides busing throughout the district for academy students, irrespective of which school they choose to attend, located at their zoned elementary campus (or another location deemed appropriate by staff/parents). A few of the academies were shut down due to low application and attendance rates.

Middle school

High school

*The GSA and IBMA academies are under a transition period to Travis HS.

C.O '19 (+) for both academies are at Travis

Former schools

Facilities

In 1999 a bond to build a new stadium was approved. The stadium was to be placed adjacent to Hightower High. [26] The stadium had Sugar Land High School American football player Ken Hall as a namesake, and an adjacent field house had teacher and coach Buddy Hopson as a namesake. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcola, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Arcola is a city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 2,034 as of the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 1,642 tabulated by the 2010 census, which represented, in turn, an increase over the 2000 figure of 1,048.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifth Street, Texas</span> Census-designated place in Texas, United States

Fifth Street is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Stafford within Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,284 at the 2020 census. Fifth Street is within the ZIP code 77477. Therefore, residents of Fifth Street have an address of Stafford, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mission Bend, Texas</span> Census-designated place in Texas, United States

Mission Bend is a census-designated place (CDP) around Texas State Highway 6 within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Fort Bend and Harris counties in the U.S. state of Texas; Mission Bend is 4 miles (6 km) northwest of the city hall of Sugar Land and 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Downtown Houston. The population was 36,914 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri City, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, an increase over the figure of 67,358 tabulated in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stafford, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Stafford is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small part in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, Stafford's population was 17,666, down from 17,693 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamar Consolidated Independent School District</span> School district in Texas, United States

Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, also Lamar Consolidated ISD, Lamar CISD or LCISD, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Metropolitan Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hightower High School</span> Public school in Texas, United States

Hightower High School is a secondary school located at 3333 Hurricane Lane, Missouri City, Texas, United States, adjacent to The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elkins High School (Missouri City, Texas)</span> Public school in Missouri City, Texas, United States

Lawrence E. Elkins High School, more commonly known as Elkins High School is a comprehensive public high school in Missouri City, Texas, that serves communities in Sugar Land and Missouri City. The school, which handles grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Elkins was established in 1992, with its first graduating class in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dulles High School (Sugar Land, Texas)</span> Public school in Sugar Land, Texas, United States

John Foster Dulles High School, more commonly known as Dulles High School, is a high school in Sugar Land, Texas. It was the first site purchase and new build, in the 1950s, of the newly formed Fort Bend Independent School District, which held its first graduation in 1960. The first class to graduate from Dulles itself was 1962. Its mascot is the Viking, and its team colors are red, white and blue. Its slogan was "Set Sail" up until the end of the 2018–2019 school year, but was changed to "Viking True" the next school year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kempner High School</span> Public secondary school in Sugar Land, Texas, United States

I.H. Kempner High School, better known simply as Kempner High School, is a public high school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen F. Austin High School (Fort Bend County, Texas)</span> Public high school in Sugar Land, TX, United States

Stephen F. Austin High School is a secondary school located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas and is named after Stephen F. Austin, who helped lead American settlement of Texas, and who is widely regarded as "The Father of Texas." The school happens to be only miles from Austin's original colony in present-day Fort Bend County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travis High School</span> Public high school in Richmond, Texas

William B. Travis High School, known simply as Travis High School, is a public high school in Pecan Grove, Fort Bend County, Texas. Located off Grand Parkway and in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the school is Fort Bend Independent School District's (FBISD) tenth high school and the largest school by enrollment in the district. Opened in 2006, Travis holds a Richmond, Texas address although the school do not serve any part of the city. The school serves part of Pecan Grove, part of Aliana, and part of New Territory. Travis is considered one of the most racially diverse public high schools in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurgood Marshall High School (Texas)</span> Public high school in Missouri City, Texas, United States

Thurgood Marshall High School is a public high school located in Missouri City, Texas and is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Colony</span> Large Master-Planned Community in Fort Bend County, Texas

First Colony is a 9,700-acre (39 km2) master-planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. The community, with approximately 50,000 residents, encompasses over 9,500 residential houses in 98 neighborhoods located across southern parts of Sugar Land with a few neighborhoods spanning into Missouri City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliff, Texas</span> Unincorporated community in Texas, United States

Juliff is an unincorporated community in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. It is a part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverstone, Texas</span> Planned community in Texas, US

Riverstone is a 3,700-acre (15 km2) upscale master-planned residential community in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. Approximately 18,000 residents ultimately will live in 6,000 homes. The development is largely located in unincorporated areas that are in extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJ) of Sugar Land and Missouri City, with portions being in Missouri City proper and strips of land being in Sugar Land proper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridge Point High School</span> Public secondary school in Missouri City, Texas, United States

Ridge Point High School (RPHS) is a public high school located in Sienna, an unincorporated area and planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas.

M. R. Wood Alternative Education Center (MRW), also known as the M. R. Wood Center for Learning, was an alternative school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD). It was in proximity to the Imperial Sugar plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sugar Land Independent School District</span> Defunct Texas school district

Sugar Land Independent School District #17 was a school district headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almeta Crawford High School</span> High school in Fort Bend County, Texas

Almeta Crawford High School, also known simply as Crawford High School, is a public high school in Fort Bend County, Texas. Located near Farm to Market Road 521 and south of State Highway 6, just adjacent to Sienna, Texas, the school opened in the fall of 2023. The school, as Fort Bend Independent School District's (FBISD) 12th consecutive high school, will initially consist of 9th and 10th graders in its inaugural year, with the first graduating class expected to be the class of 2026.

References

  1. ↑ "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Fort Bend Independent School District". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  2. ↑ "City of Pearland School Districts." (Archive) City of Pearland. Retrieved on March 21, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "District Information / History". www.fortbendisd.com. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  4. ↑ "2010 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency. Archived from the original on 2011-11-14.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "FBISD History". Fort Bend Independent School District. 2001-11-16. Archived from the original on 2001-11-16. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  6. ↑ Research done by the Texas State Library, recorded in the Fort Bend County Official Public Records under document number 2000062274 on July 27, 2000.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Solomon, Jerome (1997-08-28). "FOOTBALL 1997/HIGH SCHOOLS/FORT BEND BONANZA/Phillips, Dulles in hunt to add to town's memories". Houston Chronicle . p. Special 33. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2011-12-31. Since then, however, the Fort Bend ISD has not gone more than five years without opening a new high school. [...] to form the fastest growing district in the state.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Fort Bend Ind. Sch. Dist. v. City of Stafford, 449 F. Supp. 375 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  9. ↑ "Fort Bend Independent, Etc. v. City of Stafford, 594 F.2d 73 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  10. ↑ Dellinger, Hannah (2021-08-12). "Fort Bend ISD won't require masks, despite county judge's order". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  11. ↑ Herndon, Shavonne (2021-08-24). "Fort Bend ISD Board Votes To Mandate Masks In All County Schools". Houston Public Media . Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  12. ↑ "Fort Bend ISD Police". fortbendisd.com. December 31, 2011. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012.
  13. ↑ Webb, Shelby (2019-12-16). "Fort Bend ISD considers ranking students based on school they are zoned to, not where they attend". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  14. ↑ Marrion, Jack (2016-01-12). "Seven Fort Bend ISD basketball teams ranked by TABC". Chron. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  15. 1 2 "Athletics / Athletic Facilities". www.fortbendisd.com. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  16. ↑ "Campus History." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on November 2, 2017.
  17. ↑ Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF) Archived March 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "Microsoft Word - 2007-schools.doc" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "School in Texas to be named after Indian-American trailblazer Sonal Bhuchar". The Times of India . 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  20. ↑ "Fort Bend ISD names new campuses after influential women (4/12/21)". fortbendisd.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-29. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "FBISD History". 7 September 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07.
  22. ↑ Meeks, Flori (2009-08-18). "Fort Bend, Lamar districts open 3 elementaries in Richmond". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2020-04-21. - Despite the headline saying they are in Richmond, they merely have "Richmond, TX" postal addresses and are not in the Richmond city limits, and the City of Houston noted postal address city names do not necessarily match municipal boundaries.
  23. ↑ Balch, Bridget (2017-09-11). "Harvey-damaged elementary school students to re-start class at new campuses". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  24. 1 2 "FBISD History". Fort Bend Independent School District. 2018-12-03. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  25. ↑ "FBISD History". Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  26. ↑ Phipps, Jill Hathaway (2002-05-23). "Fort Bend stadium tab climbs". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  27. ↑ Whitehead, Paulette (2003-07-21). "School board names stadium after Hall, field house after Hopson". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2023-03-20.

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