Houston ISD cutting wraparound services department, shifting focus to Sunrise Centers

The district is shifting the non-academic support services to its seven Sunrise Centers. The board of managers on Wednesday voted to open an eighth center, which will start operations next school year. Colleen DeGuzman

 | Posted onApril 17, 2025, 2:38 PM

River Oaks Elementary School, a north Houston ISD campus.

Houston ISD is shuttering its wraparound services department — which provides students with free school supplies, food, clothing and other resources — because the program’s “model no longer fits,” according to the district.

Najah Callander, HISD’s deputy chief of family and community partnerships, explained in a Thursday letter that “the wraparound specialist model was designed for a very different version of HISD,” and that the decision was made “to maximize scarce resources.” Callander said the services “relied heavily on one-time federal funding that is no longer available,” and that the program supported students when the district lacked “the level of coordination and integration that we have today.”

Although the district is eliminating its wraparound services department, Callander says it is “not cutting services to students,” but rather shifting them to the district’s seven Sunrise Centers. The board of managers on Wednesday voted to open an eighth center, which will start operations next school year.

READ MORE: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/hisd/2025/04/17/519124/houston-isd-cutting-wraparound-services-department-shifting-focus-to-sunrise-centers/