Nortex Times

Vernon High School had the highest enrollment among Wilbarger County schools, welcoming 532 students during the 2022-23 academic year, according to the Texas Education Agency report.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2022-23 school year, 51.3% of the students were girls, and 48.7% were boys.

Data also showed that the majority of students were Hispanic, representing 50.9% of the Vernon High School total enrollment.

Among the eight schools in Wilbarger County, Shive Elementary School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 525 students, while Vernon Middle School welcomed 371 students and ranked third in the 2022-23 school year.

Vernon High School is a part of Vernon ISD, which roughly covers schools within Wilbarger County with its main office in Vernon.

In the previous school year, Shive Elementary School had the highest number of students among Wilbarger County schools.

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.

Education in Texas is often a hot button issue, especially as test scores lag behind other states.

“The problems commonly cited are flaws in the school financing system, relatively low teacher salary, poor test performance by students, dropouts from traditional schools in favor of charter schools, gun violence, and mental health issues,” claimed the Texas Almanac.

School Name	City	Total School Enrollment
Vernon High School	Vernon	532
Shive Elementary School	Vernon	525
Vernon Middle School	Vernon	371
T. G. McCord Elementary School	Vernon	337
Northside School	Vernon	243
Harrold School	Harrold	138
North Texas State Hospital - Afp - Vernon	Vernon	15
Vernon ISD Opportunity Center	Lufkin	12