Fort Bend Independent School District
Administration Building
Address
16431 Lexington Blvd Sugar Land , Fort Bend County, Texas, 77479 United States
District information
Type	School District
Motto	Inspire, Equip, Imagine
Grades	Pre K-12
Established	April 18, 1959 (April 18, 1959)
Superintendent	Dr. Marc Smith (January 8, 2024–current)
School board	Judy 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
Students	80,000+ (January 2023)
Staff	11,000+ 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.

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.

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.

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

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:

• Kenneth Hall Stadium (Football/Soccer/Track) and Buddy Hopson Field House (Gym) located next to Hightower^[15]
• Edward Mercer Stadium (Football/Soccer) and Wheeler Field House (gym) located next to the Admin Building^[15]
  • Frankie Field (Baseball) is also located next to Mercer, but it is Clements's Home Field

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

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.

Former schools

• Oaklane Elementary School (Arcola, then unincorporated) (1-8 elementary school for black students)^[20] (closed 1965)
  • Oaklane children were reassigned to Blue Ridge Elementary School, currently in Houston.^[24]
• Staffordshire Elementary School (Stafford) (1-4 elementary school)^[20] (closed 1965)
  • Students were reassigned to E. A. Jones Elementary School in Missouri City^[24]
• Annie Wilcox Elementary School (closed 1969)^[20]
• M. R. Wood Alternative Education Center (formerly a 1-12 school for black students)^[25]
  • Hosts kids who have special needs
  • Originally housed DAEP Program for entire district (west side when FHCL opened)

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

• Sugar Land, Texas
• Fort Bend County, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Missouri City, Texas
• Meadows Place, Texas
• Pearland, Texas
• Arcola, Texas

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Bend Independent School District.

External links

• Fort Bend Independent School District website
• NCES listing of District schools
• Skyward FBISD Login to Access Student & Family (Guide)