From the cover
Special education enrollment grows
The overview
Special education as a portion of total student body
Alvin ISD Friendswood ISD Pearland ISD Texas
There are several ways a student can be eligible to receive special education services at AISD, FISD and PISD, according to each district’s respective special education website. Among those include a child having autism, deaf- blindness, an intellectual disability, a health impairment, a speech or language impairment, or a specific learning disability. While each district offers services such as speech therapy, early childhood special education and occupational therapy, AISD, FISD and PISD partnered up to establish a Therapeutic Education Center, or TEC, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, according to FISD’s website. The TEC serves students with autism, low incidence disabilities, an emotional disability that requires extensive self-contained support for behavior, and for students with significant behavioral difficulties with needs that can’t be met by their district, said Lisa Nixon, assistant superintendent of educational services at PISD.
18%
2014-15 9% 8% 9% 8%
15%
12%
9%
15% 15% 13% 14% 2023-24
6%
0%
SOURCE: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Special education as a whole has been a challenge for Texas, as the state in recent years has expanded how many students qualify for
special education, according different special needs advocacy groups. This has increased the number of students districts must serve.
Diving in deeper
By the numbers
adjustment allotment for special education stu- dents, the adjustments are weighted differently based on the accommodations an individual student receives, TEA documents show. Furthermore, school districts must spend at least 55% of the ADA allotment for the special education department, according to the TEA.
Students with disabilities who are part of general education classrooms and instruction are calculated in the average daily attendance, or ADA, allotment from the state, which has been $6,160 per student since 2019, according to TEA documents. While the TEA gives school districts an
To meet demand, PISD has spent nearly $300,000 since the start of the 2024-25 school year on 11 additional personnel for special education, including teachers, aides and bus monitors for special programs, according to district documents. While additional staff members have not had to be hired for AISD or FISD, FISD’s Executive Director of Special Education Dahria Driskell said she believes state funding and staff attrition need to be a priority in the upcoming legislative session.
Alvin, Friendswood, Pearland ISD's special education allotment from state of Texas
2023-24 2022-23 2021-22 Alvin ISD
Full-time equivalent special education staff at Alvin, Friendswood, Pearland ISDs
$24.13M
$26.74M
$30.18M
2023-24 2022-22 2021-22 Friendswood ISD
$5.13M
Alvin ISD 752 749 836 918 1074 Friendswood ISD 174 194 168 178 198 Pearland ISD 353 362 392 386 409
$5.71M $6.02M
Percent change since 2019-20 Alvin ISD 42.81%
2023-24 2022-23 2021-22 Pearland ISD
$15.23M
Friendswood ISD 13.79%
Pearland ISD 15.86%
$16.68M
$18.42M
*THE TOTAL STAFF COUNT FOR THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR HAS NOT BEEN FINALIZED. NOTE: DISTRICT OFFICIALS SAID THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF FULL-TIME SPECIAL EDUCATION EMPLOYEES MAY DIFFER FROM DATA REPORTED TO THE TEA DUE TO CODING DISCREPANCIES. SOURCES: PEARLAND ISD, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY/COMMUNITY IMPACT • STAFF COUNTS FOR ALVIN AND FRIENDSWOOD ISDS WERE ACQUIRED THROUGH THE TEA.
$0
$5M $10M $15M $20M $25M $30M $35M
SOURCES: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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