Families make up their minds about a school district long before anyone hands them a brochure. They do it at the front desk, on the enrollment website, in the car line, and in the classroom. Each of those moments tells them something about what the district cares about and whether it keeps its promises. That is why marketing can’t live in the communications office alone. Every leader in the district has a hand in it.

For Justin Elbert, director of K-12 communications at PBK Architects, the work starts with a simple check: does what the district says match what families actually experience? Academic programs, how the front office treats a parent, how enrollment works, and what a campus feels like when you walk in all shape how families see their schools.

Elbert and Skyler Hefley, director of communications at Longview Independent School District (Longview ISD), took that idea to txEDCON 2026, the joint convention of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). Their session laid out a practical approach: figure out what is driving enrollment locally, clear away the obstacles families run into, give each department a defined piece of the work, and tie facilities decisions to the demand a district has now and expects later. [1]

The framework pairs practitioner experience with a real district example. It won’t look the same in every community, but it gives leaders a place to start on the family experience and a way to judge what needs to change where they are.

The evidence calls for a local diagnosis

Start with the numbers. Texas public-school enrollment dropped from 5,544,255 students in 2024-25 to 5,467,642 in 2025-26. That is 76,613 fewer students, a 1.4% decline. About 60% of the net loss, 46,180 students, came from kindergarten through fifth grade. The statewide figures include public charter schools. [2]

Keep in mind that a student who moves from a district to a charter or a public virtual school lowers district enrollment without changing the state total. These figures also can’t tell you where individual students went or why. [2] 

Districts across the country are feeling this. In a spring 2026 survey by RAND and the Center on Reinventing Public Education, 40% of districts said they were considering or already running enrollment marketing campaigns. Only 6% picked market research into what parents or students want from their schools. On its face, that is a lot more districts ready to advertise than to ask families first, though respondents could choose more than one strategy and the survey can’t say whether districts were already gathering feedback some other way. It also didn’t measure spending or which strategies actually moved enrollment. [3] 

So the real question for any district is local. How much of your change comes from smaller incoming classes? How much from families moving away, transferring, or choosing a different kind of school? 

Before picking a response, look at several years of grade-level enrollment, whatever population estimates are available, and the reasons families gave when they left. Removing the barriers that push families away is one job. Planning for fewer school-age children is a different one. Plenty of districts will need to do both.

Treat the family experience as an enrollment strategy 

Families see one district, even when several departments are serving them. Communications might invite them in, the technology team supports the application they fill out, and a campus employee picks up their first phone call. Whether the whole thing feels smooth depends on how well those handoffs work. 

What the district actually offers still matters. In the National Center for Education Statistics’ 2023 household survey, parents who had considered other schools were asked what mattered when choosing one. Among those nonhomeschooled students, 77% had parents who rated the quality of teachers, principals, or other staff as very important. Safety, including student discipline, came in at 74%, and curriculum or distinctive academic programs at 57%. Those numbers reflect that group of families during the 2022-23 school year. [4] 

That puts safety squarely in the family-experience conversation, and in very practical terms. Families need to know how arrival and visitor check-in work, where to find student support, and how to report a safety concern. Leaders should check whether that information is easy to find and whether families get a clear, consistent answer when they ask for help. 

Educational fit and practical access go together, too. A family can love a program and still not be able to attend because of transportation, seat availability, eligibility rules, schedules, or the specialized services their child needs. 

Here is a small example. A parent requests an enrollment account and then has to wait for a temporary password. If that parent sits down to enroll in the evening, they may be stuck until staff are back the next day. The question for the district is simple: can we help this family take the next step when they’re ready to take it? 

The best way to find these problems is to walk through the process yourself without leaning on what employees already know. Pick up a phone, find the right campus, figure out what’s required, and try to take the next step. Then do it again from the point of view of families who speak other languages, use assistive technology, or don’t spend much time online. Look at the district website and the third-party registration system together, since families experience them as one thing, and make sure there is an obvious way to reach a real person. Write down every snag and who has the authority to fix it. 

Make useful information part of the promise 

Think about what parents look for on an ordinary school day: whether they can eat lunch with their child, when testing is, how the bus works, who to call with a question. Communications teams spend a lot of time celebrating student success, and they should. But families also need reliable information just to get through the week. 

A district website has two jobs. It should help prospective families decide whether the district is a good fit and show them what to do next. It should also help current families find answers they can trust. Both jobs need someone who owns them and checks on them regularly. 

Good information includes the fine print. Eligibility, capacity, deadlines, transportation, and the difference between applying to a program and completing registration all belong in plain view. Keeping those details current helps families decide and cuts down on the calls and confusion that end up on staff. 

Sometimes the best improvement is taking a step out. Leaders should ask whether a family can read the instructions, figure out which process applies to them, and finish the next step without having to learn how the district is organized.

Continue the relationship after registration 

The work doesn’t stop at registration. The weeks between enrolling and the first day are a good time to stay in touch. A note from the principal, an invitation to visit the campus, and timely tips on getting ready help a family feel connected before the first bell. Match each message to where the family is in the process, so a parent who just finished a step doesn’t get another generic reminder to start it. 

The same goes for students moving between campuses and grade levels. Ask what families need to feel confident about the move, then line up the information, introductions, and support to match. 

Elbert’s framework keeps coming back to one question: why would a family choose to stay? [1] Answering it means listening past the parents who already come to district events. Talk with current families, new arrivals, families who recently left, and families who started registration but never finished. Hear from students, too, where it makes sense. 

Keep track of who you heard from. Let people give more than one reason for a decision, and don’t treat an unknown reason for leaving the same as a documented concern. A family that left because they moved needs a different response than a family that gave up on registration because the instructions were confusing. 

Give the work authority and protected time 

Communications leaders need a seat in executive planning on enrollment, programs, and the family experience. They also need the time and access to help campuses improve the experience they’re being asked to promote. Enrollment shouldn’t land on the communications team only after a shortfall has turned into an emergency. 

In practice, the team can coach principals on clear messaging, help teachers put together useful open-house information, and prepare campus staff to give tours that end with real follow-up. Leadership should be honest about what that takes in workload, staffing, and summer coverage, and decide which existing work can be scaled back to make room. 

No communications team can direct every campus or rewrite every enrollment procedure on its own. This only works with the superintendent’s backing and real participation from school leaders and staff. 

The leadership model Elbert and Hefley proposed spells out who does what. The board sets direction, provides resources, and provides oversight. The superintendent names an executive owner and clears barriers between departments. School and enrollment staff own specific next steps. [1] That way, the people responsible for the work also have the authority to get it done.

Longview ISD simplifies the enrollment path 

Longview ISD shows what it looks like to make the process easier to follow. In January 2026, the district moved its School of Choice application window earlier and announced an Enrollment Hub to help families sort through their options. 

The district’s guidance separates choosing a campus from registering. Families attending their zoned campus don’t need a School of Choice application. Families who want a choice campus, or who are transferring into the district, apply through Choose LISD first and then register in Skyward Qmlativ. The announcement also points families to mobile-friendly information, bilingual resources, and in-person help. [5] 

The idea behind it is practical. A family should be able to recognize their own situation and know what to do next without first learning the district’s internal vocabulary. 

Research backs up paying attention to how information is presented. In an Institute of Education Sciences experiment with about 3,500 low-income parents, the way school information was displayed changed how well parents understood it, how easy it was to use, and which schools they picked in a hypothetical choice. The study didn’t measure actual enrollment. [6] 

Longview ISD’s announcement, likewise, describes an operational change. Its effect on completed enrollment is a separate question that would need its own evaluation. For other districts, the takeaway is more immediate: find a process families struggle with, fix the guidance, and test whether families can actually finish the next step. 

Measure progress at each stage 

An inquiry, a completed application, an offer (where the district makes one), and a student who actually starts school are four different things. Leaders should define each stage and who is being counted, then track where families need help or drop off. [1] 

Use consistent reporting dates. Separate incomplete applications from ineligible requests, requests with no seat available, families who moved, and families who chose to leave. Decide whether retention means staying at a campus or staying in the district, and account for graduation and normal grade transitions. A student who moves from one district campus to another shouldn’t show up as a district loss. 

Look at response times, whether families finished what they set out to do, and what they say about the experience, right alongside confirmed starts and continued enrollment. Limit access to identifiable family information to the staff who need it, and report aggregated findings to leadership. 

Be careful with cause and effect. If enrollment goes up after a website change, the website may not be the reason. Registration timing, population shifts, seat availability, and other initiatives can all play a part. Write those changes down, and where it’s practical, compare similar groups or roll changes out in stages. 

What you want to learn is which barriers came down, whether families completed the step you were aiming for, and whether enrollment or retention changed over a long enough stretch to mean something.

Connect family experience with facilities planning 

Enrollment decisions are tied to facilities choices that will shape a district for decades. Before planning an addition or a new grade configuration, leaders need a realistic picture of who each building will serve and how that could change. 

A smaller kindergarten class is worth looking into, but it is only one signal. Housing, families moving in and out, transfers, and program demand all affect future enrollment. Recent Houston-area demographic research shows why districts should look at local population change and at changes in who chooses the district side by side. [7] Facilities and staffing plans should state their assumptions plainly and test several realistic scenarios. 

Growing districts can plan for expansion. Districts with smaller incoming classes can look at how existing space might serve different programs or grade configurations. 

Look at demand by neighborhood, grade, and program, and compare it with the capacity that can actually serve those students. Weigh renovation, expansion, and reuse against what each one means for staffing, transportation, accessibility, and operating costs. Where a school sits also affects how students and families get there. [8] 

Campus design is another practical test. Can a first-time visitor find the front door, understand how arrival works, and have a private conversation with staff? Clear signage, accessible routes, and a well-planned reception area help a campus feel secure and welcoming at the same time. Those choices should work hand in hand with the instructional and service needs the building has to meet. 

Use the first 90 days to get the work started 

Ninety days is enough time to name owners, test one improvement, and set up a regular review. The roadmap below is a proposed sequence adapted from the leadership framework. Changes in enrollment and retention will likely take longer to show up. [1]

Through all of it, leaders should keep asking why a family would choose their schools again. The answer depends on the education students receive, the experience families have, the support employees are able to give, and the buildings that make the district’s promise possible. 

No single target fits every district. The right goals depend on local demand and the capacity a district has to meet it. But districts that understand what families need, remove the obstacles they can, and connect family experience with operations and facilities planning are in a much better position to make those calls, with clearer evidence and the whole leadership team sharing the responsibility. 

 

About the contributors 

Justin Elbert | Primary expert 

Justin Elbert is director of K-12 communications at PBK Architects. He draws on his years in school communications to connect messaging with family service, enrollment operations, and long-term facilities planning.

Skyler Hefley | Contributing district perspective 

Skyler Hefley is director of communications at Longview ISD. His work connects district communications with the everyday job of helping families understand their options and get enrolled.

Sources and expert attribution 

The leadership framework comes from Justin Elbert and Skyler Hefley’s presentation materials. Outside sources provide the enrollment data, parent-reported priorities, research on information design, and facilities-planning guidance. The Longview ISD example describes an operational change; this article does not claim it produced a measured enrollment effect. 

[1] Justin Elbert and Skyler Hefley. Everything Is Marketing Now | Extended Review | txEDCON 2026. Presentation materials reviewed October 27, 2026. Relevant slides include 28 and 42 on leadership responsibilities, 37 on measurement, 38 on family access, and 43 on the proposed 90-day sequence. These are practitioner recommendations. View presentation. Conference context: official txEDCON 2026 program. 

[2] Texas Education Agency. Enrollment in Texas Public Schools, 2025–26. June 2026. Tables 2 and 10. Enrollment report. For public virtual enrollment, see TEA’s Texas Virtual School Network Online Schools Program. 

[3] Tia Clinton, Benjamin K. Master, Lydia R. Rainey, and AK Keskin. Shrinking Budgets, Fewer Students. RAND and the Center on Reinventing Public Education, July 14, 2026. Figure 3 includes 474 responses; multiple selections were permitted. The overall survey had 481 participating districts and a 4% response rate. Estimates were weighted to represent regular U.S. public school districts; charter management organizations were excluded. Weighting does not eliminate possible nonresponse bias. Research report and technical documentation. 

[4] National Center for Education Statistics. Parent and Family Involvement in Education: 2023. NCES 2024-113, September 2024. The school-choice figures describe nonhomeschooled students whose parents or guardians considered other schools. See the September 17, 2024 official release and the full report. 

[5] Longview ISD. Longview ISD moves early, simplifies enrollment as school districts face shifting student trends. January 12, 2026. District announcement. 

[6] Institute of Education Sciences. Presenting School Choice Information to Parents: An Evidence-Based Guide. NCEE 2019-4003, October 2018. The experiment measured understanding, usability, and hypothetical selections. Guide and study description. 

[7] C. Thrash, A. Horne, E. Baumgartner, and A. Pham. Preparing for Future Enrollment in Public School Districts: Population Change, Births, and Mobility in the Houston MSA. Houston Education Research Consortium, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University, April 8, 2026. Regional observational research. Publisher summary and report. 

[8] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Smart Growth and School Siting. Accessed October 27, 2026. Planning guidance.