Naham Ncho walked into his fifth-grade classroom at Haygood Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and found out he was student No. 50,000.
The district has never been this big.
Lamar CISD surprised Ncho with a celebration alongside his classmates, marking the first time the district has crossed the 50,000-enrollment threshold. The district announced the milestone on social media the same day, the first day of the 2026-2027 school year.
Haygood Elementary, which opened in August 2025 off Fulshear Bend Drive, posted its own congratulations, noting that the 50,000th student is one of its Hedgehogs.
Growth at a glance
The milestone caps years of rapid expansion. The district has added roughly 2,000 students per year, according to Haygood Elementary's social media post on the enrollment figure. When voters approved Lamar CISD's $1.516 billion bond package on Nov. 8, 2022, the district projected enrollment could surpass 70,000 within a decade, My Neighborhood News reported.
To keep pace, the district opened new campuses this fall. Slawinski Elementary in the Tamarron West subdivision near Fulshear welcomed its first students as the Sharks, named after Alma Lemon Slawinski, who taught 35 years at Lamar Consolidated High School. The district also opened a Career and Technical Education Center at 1155 Hartledge Road in Rosenberg, funded by the 2022 bond, and Bright Futures Academy at Beasley Elementary for students with autism spectrum disorder, as we reported Aug. 11.
"As Lamar CISD continues to grow, now having more than 50,000 students, we have a responsibility to ensure that our facilities and programs grow with us," Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said at the CTE Center ribbon-cutting on Aug. 11. "Every student deserves access to opportunities that inspire them, challenge them and prepare them for their future."
Budget and what's ahead
The Board of Trustees approved a $572.2 million budget for 2026-2027, with about 85% dedicated to salaries and benefits. The district raised its starting teacher salary to $68,900, a $2,200 increase from the prior year. Lamar CISD also earned a "B" accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency for 2024-2025, scoring 88 out of 100, up three points from the prior year.
More construction is coming. The board has approved attendance boundaries for Secondary Complex #8, which includes Williams High School, Urbanski Junior High and Dresner Middle School along FM 359 north of Fulshear, set to open in August 2027. Williams High School will open serving grades 9-11; current students zoned to the new campus who will be seniors in fall 2027 may remain at Fulshear High School to finish their final year.
