This is a list of school districts in Texas, sorted by Education Service Center (ESC) Region and then by County.
There are multiple classifications of school districts. Among them are independent school districts, common school districts, municipal school districts, rural high school districts, industrial training school districts, rehabilitation districts for the handicapped, and several types of junior college districts. The U.S. Census Bureau considers the existing K-12 school districts to be independent governments, including the sole municipal school district in the state.[1]
Geographical school districts in Texas are (with one exception, the Stafford Municipal School District) completely independent from city or county jurisdiction.
Texas school district boundaries are not always aligned with county or city boundaries; a district can occupy several counties and cities, while a single city (especially larger ones such as Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio) may be split between several districts.
Almost all Texas school districts use the title "Independent School District", or ISD. Except for Stafford, those few districts that do not have "ISD" in their names are nonetheless ISDs.
This list does not include:
It does include Independent School Districts run by orphanages or homes for troubled children. However, there are only three known examples, the Masonic Home Independent School District (which closed in 2005 and is listed with the other defunct school districts below the main list), the Boles Independent School District (which later expanded to serve homes in the nearby area; the organization now also serves troubled children who are not orphaned), and the Boys Ranch Independent School District (which only serves troubled children who are residents; despite its name it serves both boys and girls).
All districts come under the jurisdiction of the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Extracurricular activities involving competitions between schools typically come under the jurisdiction of the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which is not part of TEA.