Nothing scandalous happened to prompt Tammara Sherrod to withdraw her elementary-age kids from Alief ISD and choose a charter school for the fall. She simply didn’t think her children were happy or comfortable, so she chose a charter campus in her neighborhood. 

“It’s our choice,” Sherrod says. “We get to do that, and I’m grateful that we get to do that.” 

Sherrod isn’t the only one fed up with traditional public schools. More than 1,000 students left Alief ISD last year. More than 8,300 students left Houston ISD in recent months, for a variety of reasons, including dissatisfaction with the Texas Education Agency’s takeover and its appointed Superintendent Mike Miles. About 90 percent of the students who left HISD for other public schools in recent years have chosen charters, according to a 2024 Houston Landing report. 

Until about 30 years ago, charters didn’t exist in Texas, but parents in a district like Houston ISD could apply for their kids to attend campuses outside their attendance zone if the nearby schools were low-performing . Still there was no guarantee there would be room for them in the preferred school. And transportation wouldn’t be provided. Or they could pay for tuition at a private school and hope their child would be accepted. 

Texas passed a law in 1995 authorizing charter schools as part of broader school reform efforts. At first, they were small and experimental. Now, districts like YES Prep and KIPP Houston each serve more than 20,000 students across multiple campuses. Not all charters, however, are successful. Rêve Preparatory Charter School was shut down by the TEA last year after two years of noncompliance, F ratings and special education concerns.

Sherrod, a former teacher at the School of Science and Technology, a charter, said she has a 17-year-old enrolled at Alief Taylor High School and an Alief ISD graduate who’s now at the University of Houston, but she thought her younger kids could better thrive in the charter environment. Her two “littles” will enter first and second grade at the new YES Prep West Elementary School when it opens in August. 

Sherrod joined several other parents on a tour of the new YES Prep West campus on Sharpcrest last week. 

“I just love the environment,” she said. “It’s convenient for where I stay. It’s organized. I disliked where my kids were going this year and I don’t want them to return. I went on a tour at another YES Prep campus, and it was just a different vibe. Kids were happy. You can tell when children are comfortable. When my children are comfortable, it does my heart good.”

Charter schools and traditional public schools are both publicly funded, tuition-free institutions, but Houston-area charter schools operate under a contract with the TEA or, in some cases, the local school district, and often have a lower teacher-student ratio. Charter supporters often point to the fact that they can specialize in STEM, arts or specific teaching philosophies, but traditional public schools can too. Traditional public schools operate under district regulations set by a board and guarantee enrollment for all students in their boundaries, while charters may use lotteries. 

Since the TEA took over Houston ISD in June 2023 and appointed Miles as superintendent, the district has heard frequent complaints from parents and students about scripted lessons, limited classroom autonomy, standardized lesson plans and AI-assisted materials. 

Last month, HISD parents became aware of leaked plans to create “specialty schools” for special education students but the district didn’t provide any details on whether children would be reassigned for the 2026-27 school year. HISD officials said more information would be provided by early summer. 

Community members attended a tour of the new charter YES Prep West Elementary School last week. Credit: April Towery

Charter schools are required to serve students with disabilities, but traditional public schools often have more robust resources for special education. YES Prep West Principal Carolyn Thouin said at the April 30 “community hard hat tour” of the new campus that the district provides an array of core enrichments.

The new elementary school has a bilingual program for native Spanish speakers and a  focus on music, “which is special because the secondary campus that we feed into is the only YES Prep that has a fully-functioning string orchestra,” Thouin said.

“We’re hoping that students can start learning instruments and then transition into the secondary and be in the orchestra,” she said. “We’re also doing independence milestones. In each grade level, each semester, students will complete a task or a skill. In first grade, it’s tying your own shoes. In kindergarten, it’s knowing your parents’ phone number and coming to the principal’s office and calling them. We’re hoping to establish independence along with academics.”  

Two special ed settings are offered at the new YES Prep school: one for pre-K students and one for students in kindergarten through second grade. The school will only go through second grade in its first year and they’ll add more grade levels in the future. The pre-K special ed class has six students, and the other one has 12 students, and two teachers are in both classrooms. Special ed students go to recess, lunch and core enrichment classes with other students in their grade level, “so there’s lots of mixing and mingling,” Thouin said. 

Critics of charters say the wave of new schools is eroding traditional public education. A recent study by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research found that Aldine and Houston ISDs shuttered 23 schools in the last three years. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is faced with a $74 million budget deficit for the next school year, and while it hasn’t had to close schools yet, board members are meeting on May 21 to discuss all options for recovering lost funding. 

At an April 13 meeting, the Cy-Fair CFO explained that each student who leaves the district is taking about $6,000 in state funding with them. Board president Julie Hinaman said the number of new charter schools cropping up without approval from local stakeholders “will continue to degrade our enrollment.” 

“That’s something we can talk to our state legislators about,” Hinaman said. “If there’s a decline in enrollment across the state, why would you continue to add campuses, especially ones that are 100 percent funded by the state? That just doesn’t make sense.”

School closings are happening nationwide for several reasons, including immigration concerns, a declining birthrate, fewer families moving to districts formerly known as education destinations, homeschooling, charters and a new statewide program offering vouchers for private schools. Thouin says charter schools aren’t trying to pull kids away from traditional public schools, but they want to give parents a choice. 

“I would say, as a parent, the thing that I always look for is the best choice, the best option, for my student,” she said. “If a parent is looking for an option other than what they’re zoned to, I think that’s something people have done forever. People with money, at least, have always looked for other options when the public school in their area isn’t giving them what they need. I think that’s what we offer.” 

Carolyn Thouin is the principal at YES Prep West Elementary School, set to open in August. Credit: April Towery

Students attending YES Prep campuses don’t have to live nearby but won’t get free bus transportation if they’re outside the zone. Thouin, referred to by her colleagues and students as “Dr. T,” has worked for YES Prep for five years but this will be her first as principal. Prior to coming to YES Prep, she was a social studies teacher at KIPP Houston. 

“I love the people,” she said of YES Prep. “I love the mission. You don’t work here unless you’re aligned with the mission. The mission is to offer high-quality education to all Houston-area students and ultimately that they can leave our schools and lead a life of opportunity, whether that’s college or something else, just that they’re set up for a life of opportunity.”

Thouin said YES Prep is its own school district and is “very much like a public school.” There’s no cost to students, and breakfast and lunch are offered to everyone daily. After-school programs are free. The new school is YES Prep’s 12th elementary, and they’re hoping to build three more to match the number of secondary campuses. 

Keith Weaver, the district’s managing director of operations, said general contractors with Linbeck built the new elementary campus for about $21.9 million. At last week’s tour, he and Thouin showed parents and community members around the site and highlighted classrooms, the library, an auditorium, and numerous security features around the gated campus. 

YES Prep Managing Director of Operations Keith Weaver shows off the playground at the charter’s newest elementary school. Credit: April Towery

YES Prep volunteers hosted a “Rock the Block” event on Saturday to recruit students for the upcoming school year. Recruitment events are held across the district ahead of each school year and are not an indication that YES Prep administrators are worried about enrollment, Thouin said. The new elementary school aims to eventually have 1,000 students but will only enroll 386 for its first year. As of this week, they’re about 150 students short of their goal. 

Isy Castillo, YES Prep’s chief external affairs officer, echoed the mantra that charter schools offer a different pathway than traditional public schools. “We are true believers of creating access to opportunity,” she said. “We’re very intentional about the curriculum and preparing our students to go to college.”  

Charter schools are Houston’s “best-kept secret,” Castillo added, explaining why they recruit up until what seems like the last minute. The word “Prep” in the district name may imply to some college readiness, but others think it’s a private school and they’ll have to pay tuition, Castillo said. Also, about 25 percent of Houston’s population includes people who were not born in the United States, so school officials use the block walks to communicate to families that they don’t check immigration status. 

“We customize our approach to the student’s learning environment, and that’s what families really like about us,” Castillo said. “They tell their families and friends about us, and that’s how we continue to grow.” 

Sherrod said she’s confident that YES Prep is the right place for her youngest children but noted that, “it’s just like a restaurant. You don’t know until you try it out for yourself.”

“There are no red flags or I wouldn’t be here,” she said. “I feel like my kids are going to be safe and get a good education. The kids are excited.” 

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