I heard a startling – and honestly, scary statistic last week.
Bay City ISD’s student population is 80% economically disadvantaged.
That’s a huge chunk of students at the biggest school district in Matagorda County!
Texas defines economically disadvantaged as a student who is eligible to participate in the national free or reduced-price lunch program.
Delving further into Texas Education Agency (TEA) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) coding leads to more defining factors that include a student being from a family with an annual income at or below the official federal poverty line, eligible for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or other public assistance, received a Pell Grant or comparable state program of need-based financial assistance, eligible for programs assisted under Title II of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), or eligible for benefits under the Food Stamp Act of 1977.
It also includes those students that are homeless, living in cars, and in other similar situations.
Not to mention, the percentage itself is so much higher than I was picturing in my head.
The 2020 Census says that about 15% of families and 18.5% of the population are below the poverty line in Matagorda County, including 23% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those aged 65 or over.
Those statistics lend themselves to challenges across the board – not just for students, but also teachers and businesses across the county.
Plus, if you think about it, it’ll also impact neighboring cities and counties, too.
I think it’s great that we’re growing and expanding what we have to offer potential tourists and incoming families.
But, at the same time, we have to remember to take care of the folks we have now, too.
Seeing the influx of scholarship programs and opportunities grow astronomically since I was a senior in 2006 is definitely heartwarming.
However, what happens to the students who don’t get the chance for scholarships or don’t know what they want to do with their futures?
School districts across Texas are pushing for college, career, or military readiness – and it’s something TEA grades them on, too.
With a litany of extracurricular sports and clubs and elective classes, districts are hoping to capture students’ interest and foster inspiration for their futures.
Even then, those options only go so far if your household can afford to give those chances to your respective students.
When I took dual credit college classes in the early 2000s, scheduling was a mess along with paying for said classes and getting the necessary supplies to students.
I ended up only being able to afford to take one at a time per year because that’s all we could budget and fit into my schedule.
Now students can take enough classes to graduate with their associate degree at the same time they get their high school diploma!
But, again, that’s only if you can afford them – time and money are hard to come by when you’re at or below poverty level.
And while I don’t know the exact numbers for other surrounding districts but with those poverty percentages from over 20 years ago still in play?
The outlook isn’t very sunshine, kittens, puppies, and rainbows for anyone.
Growth only counts if we can sustain and maintain it – without that, we’re just throwing money at a pipe dream.
