Lamar, TX: Autism increases 700 students to 1,700 in 5 yrs; autism charter school planned

Mar 11, 2026, Education Week: Inside a K-12 District’s Plan for a Charter School for Students With Autism

When students return to the Lamar Consolidated schools in Texas after summer break, some will attend a new district-sponsored school that’s on track to become the latest charter school designed specifically to serve a growing population of students with autism.

Bright Futures Academy, in the 45,000-student district southwest of Houston, is slated to open in August, offering a dedicated program for children on the autism spectrum where they can receive therapeutic supports integrated into the school day, without being pulled out of class.

The charter school, which will be located at the Lamar Consolidated school system’s Beasley Elementary School, will start off serving about 100 students ages 3 through 2nd grade who apply and are chosen through a lottery.

Bright Futures’ schedule will carve out dedicated time for therapy and other academic supports, district leaders said, and parents will be welcome to see their kids receiving services.

Lamar won’t be the first to open a charter school designed to serve children with autism as the population of children on the spectrum nationwide has grown. A top special education official at the U.S. Department of Education, for example, founded a network of Arizona charter schools for children with autism as well as a national accelerator to help other autism-focused charter schools open.

The goal in Lamar is twofold: First, as the district’s number of students on the autism spectrum grows, teachers need more support. At Bright Futures, staff will be specially trained to work with students who have disabilities. This takes pressure off educators in mainstream classrooms who are not equipped to handle all students’ unique needs. The specialized focus will include helping students develop self-regulation skills and prepare for independent adulthood. . . .

Of the 45,000 students in the Lamar Consolidated district, about 1,700 are identified as having autism, Mathis said, up from just over 700 in 2021.

A different approach to inclusion at a specialized charter school

The Lamar district isn’t the first to design a special program for children with autism or other developmental or intellectual disabilities.

And while it’s an approach often driven by parents’ needs and their desire to support their children, it has also drawn skepticism from experts and advocates who say incorporating students with disabilities as much as possible into general education classrooms benefits all students. That idea, in fact, is enshrined in federal law.

IDEA requires that students with disabilities be taught in the “least restrictive environment” that’s appropriate for their needs. Generally, that means participating in classes alongside their general education peers at least some of the time. . . .

Lamar leaders said they spend about $6 million more than what the federal government provides to the district for special education annually, and have done so for years, pulling dollars from other areas of a total budget of more than $473 million. The district intends to solicit donations from community partners to help fund the work at the Bright Futures charter school, Nivens said.

If the program is successful, Nivens hopes to expand it and add new grade levels at locations across the district. . . .