There were 563 Black students enrolled in Polk County schools in the 2024-25 school year, 7.7% less than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Data showed that Polk County welcomed 7,045 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 8% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the county.
Among the 18 schools in Polk County, Livingston High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students, with a total of 109.
A recent study by WalletHub classified Texas as one of the least-educated states in the U.S., ranking it 41st out of 50 in educational quality and student outcomes.
Underfunding is a frequently cited challenge facing Texas’ school districts. According to a 2024 report from the Texas Education Agency, per-pupil funding has not increased since 2019, despite inflation rates rising by more than 20% since then.
“As a result, many districts in our very own Central Texas region are being forced to cut back on essential programs, services, consider school closures, and adopt deficit budgets just to provide students with the education that they deserve,” Hutto ISD Trustee James Matlock stated in an interview.
| School name | % Black students | Total enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| Livingston High School | 9.5% | 1,147 |
| Livingston Junior High School | 6.8% | 901 |
| Onalaska Elementary School | 2.4% | 704 |
| Cedar Grove Elementary School | 5.7% | 513 |
| Big Sandy School | 1.2% | 506 |
| Creekside Elementary School | 7.3% | 504 |
| Timber Creek Elementary School | 8.2% | 499 |
| Onalaska Junior/Senior High School | 4.5% | 492 |
| Pine Ridge Primary School | 8.7% | 439 |
| Corrigan-Camden Elementary School | 14.9% | 397 |
| Corrigan-Camden High School | 21% | 248 |
| Corrigan-Camden Junior High School | 15.9% | 189 |
| Goodrich Elementary School | 14.3% | 147 |
| Leggett Elementary School | 9.9% | 131 |
| Leggett High School | 14.6% | 96 |
| Goodrich High School | 13.4% | 67 |
| Goodrich Middle School | 7.7% | 52 |
| Livingston High School Academy | 7.7% | 13 |
Information in this article was obtained from the Texas Education Agency. The source data can be found here.
