Rusk County Education: 8 Pacific Islander students were enrolled in schools in 2022-23 school year

Texas State Board Of Education Secretary Pat Hardy (2024) | twitter.com/pathardy

By Longview Times

Jan 30, 2025

There were eight Pacific Islander students enrolled in Rusk County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 14.3% more than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that Rusk County welcomed 10,774 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, Pacific Islander students comprised 0.1% of the student body to be the least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 28 schools in Rusk County, Overton High School recorded the highest enrollment of Pacific Islander students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of two 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 Rusk County in 2022-23 School Year

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

School name	% of Pacific Islander students enrolment	Total enrollment
Henderson High School	0	1,042
Kilgore Middle School	0	885
Henderson Middle School	0	785
William E. Wylie Elementary School	0.1	671
Kilgore Primary School	0	664
Carlisle School	0	623
Kilgore Intermediate School	0	582
Chandler Elementary School	0	526
Northside Elementary School	0.2	484
Tatum High School	0	464
Monnie Meyer Wylie Primary School	0	418
West Rusk High School	0	369
Tatum Primary School	0	349
Tatum Middle School	0	338
Tatum Elementary School	0	325
Overton High School	0.8	257
Mt. Enterprise Elementary School	0.4	257
West Rusk Middle School	0.4	246
Mt. Enterprise High School	0.4	239
Overton Elementary School	0	237
West Rusk Elementary School	0	223
West Rusk Intermediate School	0	208
Billy Moore	0.5	196
Laneville School	0	150
Leveretts Chapel Elementary School	0	120
Leveretts Chapel High School	0	69
Leveretts Chapel Junior High School	0	45
Arp Coop Alternative School	0	2