In 1977, following a disannexation election, Stafford Municipal School District (SMSD) was created out of the 181-square-mile Fort Bend ISD and Houston ISD. The disannexation was the result of a grass roots movement to return to a small, community-based school system.

After passage of the election creating the district, the City of Stafford spent five years in federal and state courts in the pursuit of creating the school district. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Stafford community and the district became a reality. Becoming a municipal school district instead of an independent school district, the school partnered with the city in ways that increased the efficiency of the tax dollar for Stafford residents and businesses.

In the fall of 1982, the elementary school opened to the district’s first 547 students in a leased warehouse. Grades six through eleven were added the following year, bringing the total student enrollment to 1057. Seniors were added the next year. In 2000, the new Intermediate School was added to the district facilities on Staffordshire, joining Primary, Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. Student enrollment at the close of the 1999-2000 school year was 2810.