Education
Conroe ISD adopts special education plan At its April 21 regular board meeting, the Conroe ISD board of trustees adopted a new plan to decentralize its special education program for the 2026-27 school year. CISD Deputy Superintendent Ted Landry said special education students will return to their regularly zoned campuses, instead of being bused
Conroe ISD addresses bus seat belt needs The Conroe ISD board of trustees, on April 21, discussed the potential costs for address- ing the district bus fleet’s seat belt needs due to Senate Bill 546, which requires buses to have three-point seat belts by Sept. 1, 2029. The gist 53%, or 320, of CISD’s buses do not meet the new three-point seat belt safety require- ments. Assistant Superintendent of Oper- ations Chris McCord said retrofitting the buses would cost $10.2 million and buying 320 new buses would cost $54.09 million. CISD officials said the district doesn’t have funds available to replace the buses. The district will address this issue in the future, possibly through a master facilities plan, officials said.
Special education investments In addition to decentralizing special education instruction, CISD will invest $3.2 million in: $700,000: • 24 supporting teacher roles and position realignment
Total: $3.2M
$2.5 million: • 15 new dyslexia teachers • 4 new speech pathologists • 4 new diagnosticians • 4 new school psychologists
to central locations. About the program
SOURCE: CONROE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Landry said the district’s special education population has increased by 15% over the past five years, with 11,911 special education students currently enrolled in the district. CISD also plans to invest $3.2 million into the special education program, by re-establishing 24 supporting teacher roles as well as adding 27 new special education teachers, Landry said.
Looking ahead The new homecoming plan is expected to reduce costs by eliminating eight bus routes in the district that had bused students to the centralized locations, saving an estimated $800,000. CISD confirmed that there will be no planned budget cuts for the special education budget or teacher positions.
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