Harris County Department of Education

Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) is an agency of the government of Harris County, Texas, in the Houston metropolitan area; it is headquartered in Northside district in Houston. As of 2018^[update] it handles the enrollment of around 200 students with special needs.^[1]

Ronald W. Reagan Building, the agency's headquarters in Northside, Houston

Under Texas law it is not a school district.^[1]

Seven elected Harris County school trustees oversee the operation of the Harris County Department of Education. Trustees are elected through a partisan election process via the Republican and Democratic primaries and in the November general elections, serving staggered six-year terms of office, with three trustees elected countywide and four trustees elected to oversee the four commissioner precincts in Harris County.^{[citation needed]}

Facilities

It is headquartered in the Ronald W. Reagan Administration Building in Northside district in Houston.^[2][3]

Schools

It directly operates the following alternative schools:

• HCDE Academic and Behavior Schools - Two campuses in Houston, East and West.^[4] They were previously known as Adaptive Behavior Centers (ABC). As of 2001^[update] all school districts in the county may send students to these schools.^[5]
  • For students with disabilities that affect their classroom behavior or performance, they serve ages 5–22.^[6]
• Fortis Academy - unincorporated area, in Greenspoint^[7]
  • It was scheduled to open in 2018 and is the first recovery high school to open in Harris County.^[7]
• Highpoint School East - unincorporated area^[8]
  • It enrolls children who were expelled from regular public school districts and/or adjudicated delinquent by youth courts. It serves grades 6-12.^[9]

The county previously operated Highpoint North, an alternative school for children with behavior problems, located at the current Fortis Academy location.^[10]

As of 2001^[update] seven school districts sent students with behavior problems to Harris County Highpoint Schools.^[10]

See also

• List of schools in Harris County, Texas