Forest Country News

There was one Pacific Islander student enrolled in San Jacinto County schools in the 2022-23 school year, the same number as in the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that San Jacinto County welcomed 3,580 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, Pacific Islander students comprised 0% of the student body to be the least represented ethnicity in the county.

Lincoln Junior High School was the only school in the county to enroll a Pacific Islander student, with just one student identified in the 2022-23 school year.

Texas is found to be one of the least-educated states in the U.S. A study from WalletHub ranked Texas 41st out of 50 states in terms of the quality of the educational system and how successful students were.

Underfunding is a frequently cited challenge facing the state's school districts. 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 said.

School name	% of Pacific Islander students enrolment	Total enrollment
Shepherd High School	0	601
Shepherd Primary School	0	499
Coldspring-Oakhurst High School	0	496
Shepherd Middle School	0	458
Street Elementary School	0	449
Shepherd Intermediate School	0	400
Lincoln Junior High School	0.3	347
Coldspring Intermediate School	0	330