Enrollment Analysis: Black students comprised 11.7% of Orange County’s student body in 2022-23 school year

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath (2024) | Ballotpedia

By SE Texas Times

Dec 4, 2024

There were 1,798 Black students enrolled in Orange County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 2.3% more than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that Orange County welcomed 15,339 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 11.7% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 24 schools in Orange County, West Orange-Stark Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 582 students.

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.

Ethnicities in Orange County in 2022-23 School Year

Enrollment Demographics in Orange County Schools During 2022-23 School Year

School name	% of Black students enrolment	Total enrollment
Vidor High School	0.2	1,193
West Orange-Stark Elementary School	51.5	1,130
Lit Cypr-Mrceville High School	8.6	1,014
Bridge City High School	1.2	894
Orangefield Elementary School	1.4	873
Bridge City Elementary School	1.8	843
Bridge City Intermediate School	1.8	712
Bridge City Middle School	1.4	695
Oak Forest Elementary School	0	672
West Orange-Stark High School	58.8	660
Little Cypress Elementary School	13.2	653
Vidor Junior High School	0.2	628
Vidor Middle School	0	627
Pine Forest Elementary School	0	606
Vidor Elementary School	0.3	587
Mauriceville Elementary School	1.8	571
Orangefield High School	1.1	549
West Orange-Stark Middle School	53.7	505
Little Cypress Junior High School	7.2	497
Orangefield Junior High School	1.2	434
M. B. North Early Childhood Learning Center	51.1	323
Little Cypress Intermediate School	12.5	313
Mauriceville Middle School	0.3	292
Tekoa Academy of Accelerated Studies - Orange	82.4	68