Grayson Times

There were 163 Black students enrolled in Cooke County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 20.9% less than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that Cooke County welcomed 6,897 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 2.4% of the student body to be the fourth least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 19 schools in Cooke County, Gainesville High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 54 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.

School name	% of Black students enrolment	Total enrollment
Gainesville High School	6.3	863
W. E. Chalmers Elementary School	5	716
Edison Elementary School	4	683
Callisburg Elementary School	0.9	549
Era School	0.2	542
Gainesville Junior High School	3.3	426
Gainesville Intermediate School	3.4	408
Valley View Elementary School	0.5	373
Callisburg High School	0.6	355
Muenster Elementary School	0	307
Valley View Middle School	0.4	281
Valley View High School	1.1	266
Lindsay Elementary School	0	257
Muenster High School	0.8	256
Callisburg Middle School	0.8	256
Lindsay High School	0	229
Sivells Bend Elementary School	0	70
Walnut Bend Elementary School	0	54
DAEP	0	6