Our Beginnings
What began on April 18, 1959 as the consolidation of two small school districts has grown today into the 7th largest public school district in the state of Texas. When Board members in the Missouri City and Sugar Land school districts made the decision to consolidate, it was to ensure that their schools could offer students the best educational opportunities available. Today Fort Bend ISD carries on that mission.
Fort Bend ISD is the 7th largest school district in Texas (out of 1,037). Spanning 170 square miles, FBISD is located in the northeast part of Fort Bend County, just southwest of Houston and Harris County. The district maintains over 1,200 acres of land, 70 schools and 13 other sites for administration, athletics, agriculture, and the FBISD Police Department. The district encompasses the incorporated cities of Missouri City, Sugar Land, Arcola and Meadows Place, a small portion of Houston and the communities of Clodine, DeWalt, Rosharon and Fresno.
To serve a growing population, FBISD has 70 campuses (10 high schools, 13 middle schools and 44 elementary campuses). To address various vocational interests and special learning needs, the District also has a Technical Education Center, the M.R. Wood Alternative Education Center, and the Progressive High School. In 2010-2011, the district will open three new schools: Elementary #45 in Rosharon, High School #11 in Missouri City, and an Alternative Learning Center in Rosharon.
Among its many honors, Fort Bend ISD has 59 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists for 2009. These talented students are among 16,000 semifinalists chosen from more than 1.5 million juniors in over 21,000 high schools who entered the 2009 National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT Test. The 2009 Fort Bend ISD graduating senior class received academic and athletic scholarship offers totaling over $53 million. Fort Bend ISD was the “the best ranked district in the Houston Area” according to a March 2009 Houston Chronicle article based on the 2008 High School ranking Report produced by the Children at Risk research group. Out of its 10 high schools, Clements and Austin were ranked in the top 10 out of 145 high schools in the Houston area. The other top FBISD high schools listed in Tier One in the Children at Risk Study were Dulles (17), Elkins (29), Kempner (31) and Hightower (36). Dulles, Clements, Bush, and Marshall High Schools were listed in the Top 10 Best Houston-area schools for students with limited English proficiency. Clements and Dulles High Schools were among 82 Texas schools to receive the 2008 College Readiness Award from the Texas American College Testing Council. They were honored for increasing the number of students taking the ACT test over the past five years and increasing the level of achievement and college readiness.The National Center for Educational Achievement selected 18 FBISD schools as 2008 Just for the Kids Higher Performing Schools in Texas. The schools were selected as higher performing based on analyses conducted by NCEA’s Just for the Kids campaign.The Fort Bend ISD AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Program has been named an Exemplar Program by the Texas High School Project Grant Program for providing innovative instruction to enhance college readiness, career and technical education, and professional development designed to serve high-need students. Last year, 1,452 Career and Technical Education students successfully obtained industry certifications and licensures in 26 different areas such as Microsoft Office Specialist, Pro-Start (Culinary Arts), Automotive Service Technician, and Cosmetology Beautician. The number of certifications earned by our students represents a 107-percent increase in the number of industry certifications earned by CTE students last year. The Texas Educational Agency awarded FBISD a $4.5 million grant as part of the District Awards for Teacher Excellence (DATE) program. The goal of the program is to increase the percentage of students meeting state standards, and to increase the achievement of all students as measured by TAKS scores.
Parent and community support plays an integral role in the district’s commitment to academic excellence. The district’s Community Partnerships program, a coordinated effort of Volunteers in Public Schools, the Community-Business Partnership, and the Fort Bend Education Foundation, continues to win numerous state awards and serves as a catalyst to develop new and creative ways for our community to partner with our schools to help our students be successful.
Business and community partners donated more than $4 million to educational programs, with in-kind donations and direct financial support in 2008-2009. Volunteers In Public Schools (VIPS) recorded more than 260,000 volunteer hours in our schools last year. If you attach the rate of $19.51 per hour (a rate established by the Independent Sector), close to $5 million in volunteer services were donated to assist students in just one year. Since its inception in 1992, The Fort Bend Education Foundation has awarded over $2.3 million to FBISD teachers and schools. In 2008-2009, the Education Foundation awarded $327,128 for classroom grants.
Fort Bend ISD is proud of the fact that we are one of the most diverse school districts in Texas and in the nation. FBISD is a majority minority school district and are: 32.26% Black, 25.31% White, 22.4% Hispanic, 19.85% Asian/Pacific Islander and .11% American Indian. As a multicultural school district, our students represent countries from around the world. More than 90 different dialects and languages are spoken by our students and their families.
Certificates of Excellence in Financing Reporting
The district’s Business and Finance staff has been presented several awards in past years that recognize FBISD’s sound financial reporting and budgeting practices.
· For the 12th consecutive year, FBISD has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association, and the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting Award by the Association of School Business Officials International.
· FBISD is proud to have received a sixth-consecutive rating of “Superior Achievement” under Texas’ Schools FIRST financial accountability rating system. The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest demonstrating the quality of Fort Bend ISD’s financial management and reporting system.
