Panhandle Times

There were six American Indian students enrolled in Deaf Smith County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 14.3% less than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that Deaf Smith County welcomed 4,100 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, American Indian students comprised 0.1% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the nine schools in Deaf Smith County, only Hereford High School and Northwest Elementary School enrolled any American Indian students, welcoming two students each 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 American Indian students enrolment	Total enrollment
Hereford High School	0.2	1,176
Hereford Junior High School	0.2	599
Northwest Elementary School	0.4	456
Bluebonnet Elementary School	0.2	404
Aikman Elementary School	0	378
West Central Elementary School	0	361
Hereford Preparatory Academy	0	299
Tierra Blanca Early Childhood Center	0	279
Walcott Elementary School	0	148