Tyler Reporter

There were seven Pacific Islander students enrolled in Cherokee County schools in the 2021-22 school year, 75% more than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that Cherokee County welcomed 8,096 students during the 2021-22 school year. Among them, Pacific Islander comprised 0.1% of the student body to be the least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 18 schools in Cherokee County, East Side Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of Pacific Islander students in the 2021-22 school year, with a total of three students each.

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.

More than 5.4 million students are enrolled in public schools across Texas. Nearly one million of them live in rural areas where options for local public schools are few and far between.

School name	% of Pacific Islander students enrolment	Total enrollment
Jacksonville High School	0.2	1,265
Jacksonville Middle School	0.1	715
Nichols Intermediate School	0	662
Fred Douglass	0	602
Rusk High School	0	594
East Side Elementary School	0.5	571
New Summerfield School	0	538
Joe Wright Elementary School	0	536
Rusk Junior High School	0	481
G.W. Bradford Primary School	0	385
West Side Elementary School	0	372
Rusk Intermediate School	0	285
Wells School	0	258
Rusk Elementary School	0	256
Alto Elementary School	0	227
Alto Middle School	0	166
Alto High School	0	163
Compass Center	5	20