Thread: TX-Irving ISD expected drop,but district continues to grow

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Irving ISD officials expected drop in enrollment, but district continues to grow

07:14 AM CDT on Thursday, September 3, 2009


By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH
kunmuth@dallasnews.com


Just two years ago, Irving school officials braced for a drop in enrollment after years of growth fueled mostly by Latino children.
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The deportation of illegal immigrants arrested by police was breaking up families and spreading fear in the community. The demolition of aging apartment complexes also raised the possibility of sudden drops.

But instead of the expected drop in enrollment, the school district continues to grow.

"We did try anticipating what might happen after there was a considerable interest nationwide and certainly in this area in the immigration issue and the way in which immigration laws were enforced," said Whit Johnstone, the district's director of planning, evaluation and research. "Our enrollment still went up. If there's any ripple of that, you can't see it in the enrollment."

Enrollment already has passed the predicted peak with 33,560 students as of Wednesday, or 566 students more than the same day last year. Usually the peak is reached in late September.

Irving reflects continued demographic changes in both the nation and Texas. Hispanics are closing in on becoming the majority of Texas schoolchildren.

"Our district looks a lot like Texas does and certainly what Texas will be," acting Superintendent Neil Dugger said.

Others point to Irving's central location and the fact that the many apartments are affordable to low-income families. About 74 percent of the district's students are poor, making the inner-ring suburban district more similar in composition to the Dallas school district than other suburban districts.

Pedro Portillo, pastor of Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church, said that although many immigrant families were afraid because of their illegal status, they couldn't afford to move elsewhere.

He has seen situations where three couples with five children have lived in a small two-bedroom apartment.

"They don't have a lot of money to move to another place," he said. "They decide to stay even though they feel Irving is a place that does not welcome them to stay."

The district has grown every year since reaching a low mark in 1984, after seeing constantly falling numbers through the 1970s and early 1980s.

Most of the district's elementary schools were built large to house up to 850 students, though five schools are at or above that level. The largest elementary, Davis, already has 880 students enrolled. The district just expanded MacArthur High School, which has 2,562 students, since previously many students attended classes in portable classrooms.

Though changes by race aren't available yet, district officials say traditionally Hispanic and Asian enrollment has risen, white enrollment has dropped and black enrollment has been fairly steady.

Last year about 68 percent of district students were Latino. There were 22,610 Hispanic students and 4,843 white students, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Richard Fry, a senior research associate with the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., said that Irving reflects national suburban trends. He noted that the Dallas-Fort Worth area in particular stands out nationally for rapid change.

Trends indicate that while many children's parents may be immigrants, most of the children are U.S-born.

Suburbs are no longer the "white enclaves" they used to be, he said. According to the Pew center, Hispanic students made up 2 million of the 3.4 million students added to the nation's suburban school districts from 1993-94 to 2006-07.

"More and more of the action is happening out in the suburbs," Fry said. "White enrollments aren't growing, but their total enrollments have gone up. A considerable part is due to Hispanic students out in the burbs."

Elsewhere, Dallas school district officials said they expected their enrollment to hold steady. Grand Prairie, Mesquite, Frisco and Richardson enrollments are up. Carrollton-Farmers Branch and Garland expect enrollment to drop slightly.
Irving ISD enrollment Irving ISD enrollment
Enrollment Wednesday (8th day of class) 8th day of class 2008 Difference
Elementary schools 17,296 17,162 134
Middle schools 7,057 7,004 53
High schools 9,164 8,761 403
Total 33,560 32,994 566
SOURCE: Irving ISD

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... da1d6.html

School is a free daycare.

Dixie

Quote:

"Irving reflects continued demographic changes in both the nation and Texas. Hispanics are closing in on becoming the majority of Texas schoolchildren.

"Our district looks a lot like Texas does and certainly what Texas will be," acting Superintendent Neil Dugger said."

Reply:
And they are moving steadily up Interstate-35 to the rest of the nation.

Originally Posted by Dixie

School is a free daycare.

Dixie

Got that right! PLUS free breakfast AND lunch!