New report shows how school districts outside the Beltway are bursting with new students

NEW CANEY, Texas (KTRK) -- A new report shows suburban school districts in the Houston area are exploding with growth, but experts said it's not necessarily about student choice.

Construction sounds fill the air inside the new Highlands neighborhood in Porter. It's luring people from Houston to the suburbs, including Jojo Martinez, who left the Heights to move to Montgomery County.

"There's less craziness of feeling so many cars and whatnot and so much traffic," Martinez explained. "Granted, there's still traffic out here, but it's growing out here fast too."

It's growing fast, not just with homes, but schools. New Caney ISD currently has about 19,000 students. A new report shows over the next decade, nearly 7,800 more students could be in the district.

To handle it, officials say an almost $700 million bond voters approved two years ago will allow them to create space. It's not the only district dealing with this.

The report shows that over the last five years, Cleveland ISD has grown by 82%, and Barbers Hill ISD has increased by 35%.

Lamar CISD grew by 33%, Tomball ISD climbed by 31%, and Huntsville ISD increased by 27%.

Experts say as growth occurs, leaders should look beyond the numbers.

"There may be additional needs, services, and supports that districts want to get ahead of as opposed to get behind on if they want to make sure they're continuing to provide a quality education," Kinder Institute for Urban Research Houston Population Research Center Director Daniel Potter said.

Experts said this isn't about school choice or homeschooling, but amenities that were normally found in the city are now in the suburbs. As the region continues to add people, they believe more will head further out.

"We might drive by right now and think, 'That's a farmland, that's a wooded area.' Those are going to be the places those 3.6 million people are going to find themselves," Potter explained.

Martinez made the migration, and she's not surprised so many other families are as well.

"That's exciting," Martinez said. "I feel like the energy is just right."

New Caney ISD voters approved a bond to help with this growth. However, it may not be enough.

The spending will allow them to handle 6,000 more students. The district could climb well above that.

School leaders say while there's no plan for another bond election right now, that could change soon as the school grapples with its rising student population.

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