There were 120 American Indian students enrolled in Smith County schools in the 2024-25 school year, 3.4% more than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Data showed that Smith County welcomed 37,131 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, American Indian students comprised 0.3% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the county.
Among the 61 schools in Smith County, Tyler Legacy High School recorded the highest enrollment of American Indian students, with a total of 13.
A recent study by WalletHub classified Texas as one of the least-educated states in the U.S., ranking it 41st out of 50 in educational quality and student outcomes.
Underfunding is a frequently cited challenge facing Texas’ school districts. According to a 2024 report from the Texas Education Agency, 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 stated in an interview.
| School name | % American Indian students | Total enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| Tyler Legacy High School | 0.5% | 2,770 |
| Tyler High School | 0.3% | 2,148 |
| Whitehouse High School | 0.1% | 1,404 |
| Lindale High School | 0.5% | 1,338 |
| E. J. Moss Intermediate School | 0.5% | 1,082 |
| Moore Mst Magnet School | 0.3% | 1,019 |
| Chapel Hill High School | 0.1% | 990 |
| Three Lakes Middle School | 0.4% | 948 |
| Boulter Middle School | 0.3% | 901 |
| Hubbard Middle School | 0.5% | 869 |
| Woods Elementary School | 0.6% | 810 |
| Whitehouse Junior High School | 0.4% | 751 |
| Owens Elementary School | 0.7% | 712 |
| Dr. Bryan C. Jack Elementary School | 0% | 706 |
| Lindale Junior High School | 0.6% | 695 |
| W. L. Kissam Intermediate School | 0.1% | 675 |
| Griffin Elementary School | 0.5% | 649 |
| Dixie Elementary School | 0.2% | 619 |
| Caldwell Arts Academy | 0.3% | 618 |
| Rice Elementary School | 0.2% | 613 |
| H. L. Higgins Elementary School | 0.2% | 597 |
| Wise Elementary School | 0% | 593 |
| Douglas Elementary School | 0.2% | 591 |
| Winona Elementary School | 0.2% | 582 |
| Mozelle Brown Elementary School | 0.3% | 575 |
| Birdwell School | 0.4% | 568 |
| Bell Elementary School | 0.6% | 540 |
| Velma Penny Elementary School | 0.6% | 517 |
| Ramey Elementary School | 0.2% | 517 |
| College Street Elementary | 0% | 512 |
| Gus Winston Cain Elementary School | 0.4% | 508 |
| Cumberland High School | 0.2% | 503 |
| Troup Elementary School | 0.6% | 498 |
| Stanton-Smith Elementary School | 0.4% | 486 |
| Tyler Classical Academy | 0.2% | 480 |
| Early Childhood Center | 0.2% | 462 |
| Orr Elementary School | 0.7% | 460 |
| Cumberland Academy | 0% | 459 |
| Arp Elementary School | 0.4% | 455 |
| Tyler ISD Early College High School | 0.2% | 447 |
| UT Tyler University Academy at Tyler | 0.4% | 446 |
| Chapel Hill Junior High School | 0% | 426 |
| Clarkston Elementary School | 0.5% | 394 |
| Cumberland Academy Middle | 0.3% | 392 |
| Jackson Elementary School | 0.5% | 388 |
| Peete Elementary School | 0.3% | 385 |
| Bonner Elementary School | 0.3% | 380 |
| Cumberland Academy Upper Middle | 0.3% | 361 |
| T. J. Austin Elementary School | 0% | 359 |
| Jones Elementary School | 0.6% | 355 |
| J. W. Holloway Sixth Grade School | 0% | 355 |
| The Leadership Academy | 0.3% | 332 |
| Winona High School | 0.3% | 319 |
| Troup High School | 0.3% | 311 |
| Arp High School | 0% | 308 |
| Winona Middle School | 0% | 265 |
| Troup Middle School | 0.4% | 254 |
| Arp Junior High School | 0.4% | 245 |
| Alvin V. Anderson Rise Academy | 0% | 83 |
| Azleway – Willow Bend | 0% | 68 |
| Premier High School of Tyler | 0% | 38 |
Information in this article was obtained from the Texas Education Agency. The source data can be found here.
