Stafford Municipal School District (SMSD) is a

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

based in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

. The district covers all of the city of Stafford and is controlled by the city, making it the only school district in Texas that is not an

independent school district An independent school district (ISD) is a type of school district in some US states for primary and secondary education that operates as an entity independent and separate from any municipality or county, and only under the oversight of the res ...

operated by an independent school board. The Primary/Elementary School building houses grades Pre-K through 5, the Middle School building houses grades 6 through 8, the High School building houses grades 9 through 12. The administration building and athletic facilities are on the same campus as the school buildings. The Stafford MSD area is served by the

Houston Community College System Houston Community College (HCC), also known as the Houston Community College System (HCCS), is a community college that operates community colleges in Houston, Missouri City, Greater Katy, and Stafford in Texas. It is notable for actively recrui ...

In 2018, the school district was rated an overall B by the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

. The

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

considers this district to be an independent school district government.

History

The majority of Stafford was initially a part of the

Fort Bend Independent School District Fort Bend Independent School District, also known as Fort Bend ISD or FBISD, is a school district that operates 86 schools in Fort Bend County. Based in Sugar Land, Texas, it is the 5th most diverse school district in Texas and is the 43rd la ...

. Fort Bend ISD banned public bussing for students living two miles or less from their school, which proved to be unpopular in Stafford and initiated a movement to secede from FBISD. In 1977, after a municipal vote, Stafford schools broke away from the

, which caused several rounds of federal litigation and by 1981 it was finally declared that the Stafford Municipal School District was constitutional. Almost all of Stafford was in the Fort Bend District, with a minuscule portion in the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the ci ...

. All of Stafford is now zoned to the Stafford Municipal School District, which is the only school district in all of Texas that is controlled by a city.

Politics and geography

While Stafford MSD is a part of the City of Stafford and took all of the land in the city in 1977 when it was created, Stafford MSD cannot annex any territory without the consent of the other school districts which own that territory. Because of this, the City of Stafford, for a period of over 20 years ending in 2006, did not annex any territory in its

extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the external ...

as that would mean portions of its territory would fall within these independent school districts: Alief, Ft. Bend, and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The city government of Stafford wants its school district's territory to be the same as its city limits.

Administration

Superintendent

The current superintendent of the Stafford Municipal School District is Robert Bostic. Before being appointed superintendent, Bostic was the Assistant Superintendent for Academic Programs for

Denton Independent School District Denton Independent School District, sometimes shortened to Denton ISD, is a school district based in Denton, Texas. DISD's superintendent is Susannah O'Bara. During the 2021-2022 school year, the District served 31,951 students. In 2009, th ...

Schools

* Stafford High School * Stafford Middle School * Stafford Elementary School * Stafford Early Childhood Center (SECC) (infants-Kindergarten) * Stafford MSD STEM Magnet School (SSMA) The school board approved a stricter dress code for the high school in 2005. ; Former divisions * Previously schools were divided as such: Stafford Primary School (Early education to grade 1), Stafford Elementary School (2-4), Stafford Intermediate School (5-6), and Stafford Middle School (7-8), and then the high school.

Athletics

In 2014 the district was considering whether it should install artificial turf in its sports fields. At the time it had residual funds from a $49.8 million bond passed in 2011. As of 2016 the school district has had artificial turf inside its stadium.

Notable alumni

*Boris Anyama, football player *

Adrian Awasom Adrian Awasom (born October 25, 1983) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at North Texas ...

, football player *

Jalen Pitre Jalen Pitre ( ; born June 3, 1999) is an American professional football safety for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears and in 2021, he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player o ...

, football player * Craig Robertson, football player * Dylan Smith, baseball player

References

External links

* *
Stafford MSD complex map
*

{{Authority control School districts in Fort Bend County, Texas School districts in Harris County, Texas