Formation and early history Barbers Hill Independent School District (BHISD) gets its name from an area, now part of
Mont Belvieu, Texas, where Amos Joshua Barber, Sr. (1814–1885) acquired in
Chambers County in 1849 and built a house on "the hill" – a
salt dome which became known as Barbers Hill. In 1877, Barber donated land for a school which was built by residents of the community including members of the Barber family. The school became part of the Barbers Hill Common School District which was formed in 1885 as a free public school system. Its original school building was destroyed in a fire in 1915 but another building measuring was built on the same site and had a single teacher. In the next few years, the school district had enough cash on hand from taxes and other revenue sources, without issuing bonds, to remodel buildings for its elementary school and construct new school facilities. The school district, which raises revenue from property tax, had a valuation of $42.8 million as of 1968–1969 and levied a tax rate of $1.56 per $100 allowing it to budget for $730,458 in expenses. The school district also issued a $1.5-million bond to raise funds for the construction of the new high school. With the opening of the new high school, the old school buildings served as the facilities for middle school. In August 1975, a new elementary school facility was opened, and the middle school was moved there to allow for demolition of the old building located on a fault on the original site on Barbers Hill. BHISD had 3,719 students in 2007 and 3,897 students in 2008. In 2009, the school district was rated "
recognized" by the
Texas Education Agency. All of the board members voted in July 2020 to uphold the prohibition on long hair for male students. In August 2020, a federal judge ruled that the school district's hair policy was discriminatory and could not be enforced. Despite the ruling and the subsequent adoption of the
CROWN Act, the district continued to enforce variations of the dress code until at least 2023. In 2024, Barbers Hill ISD began encouraging teachers to use the
artificial intelligence (AI) platform Brisk Teaching in their classroom instruction and administrative tasks. The school district spent $25,125 on the platform in 2024 and planned to spend $41,700 on an upgrade for the subsequent year. According to Barbers Hill ISD, the tool is intended to reduce the teacher workload and prevent
teacher burnout by helping them create assignments, track student performance, and customize lesson plans to particular students. In 2025, entered into an agreement to bring a branch of
Lee College, a two-year college located in neighboring
Baytown, to Mont Belvieu on a new campus owned and operated by BHISD due to open in 2027. The school district will reimburse the college for the cost of operating the branch which will be used for dual credit between BHISD and Lee College. ==Composition==