Santa Maria ISD welcomed 540 students in 2023-24 school year

There were 540 students enrolled in Santa Maria ISD schools in the 2023-24 school year, 4.8% less than the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2023-24 school year, 55.2% were boys, and 44.8% were girls.

Data also shows that the majority of students were Hispanic, representing 99.3% of the district’s total enrollment.

Santa Maria ISD roughly covers schools within Cameron County with its main office in Santa Maria.

Among the five schools in Santa Maria ISD, Tony Gonzalez Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of 233 students in the 2023-24 school year.

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.