SE Texas Times

Hardin County schools enrolled 5,368 students who identified as economically disadvantaged in the state during the 2022-23 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Of the 10,764 students enrolled in Hardin County schools, 49.9% were considered economically disadvantaged. This is a 7.4% increase over the previous school year.

Hardin County enrolled the 70th highest number of students identified as economically disadvantaged among Texas counties.

Education in Texas is often a hot button issue, especially as test scores lag behind other states.

"The problems commonly cited are flaws in the school financing system, relatively low teacher salary, poor test performance by students...dropouts from traditional schools in favor of charter schools...gun violence, and mental health issues," claimed the Texas Almanac.

School	Number of Economically Disadvantaged Students	Total Number of Students
Silsbee Elementary School	689	1,017
Silsbee High School	502	814
Lumberton Primary School	419	982
Edwards-Johnson Memorial Middle School	413	633
Lumberton High School	374	1,229
Lumberton Middle School	340	969
Sour Lake Elementary School	319	767
Hardin-Jefferson High School	281	749
Henderson Middle School	251	617
Laura Reeves Primary School	242	308
Kountze Elementary School	237	313
Lumberton Intermediate School	232	622
West Hardin Elementary School	217	281
Lumberton Early Childhood School	192	392
Kountze High School	192	327
West Hardin High School	167	270
Kountze Intermediate School	155	243
Kountze Middle School	146	231