Dropping Enrollment @ WOS

[wos1980]

As an older Mustang I can't understand why the enrollment has dropped so drastically over the last several years?  Can anyone tell me how a small 5A school can end up a small 3A school in a matter of 20 years?  What is even more amazing is that if you were to sit in the stands at the football games you can not really tell that much of a difference in what the crowds used to be and what they are now.  I know that you very rarely here good things about the school district in general except for athletics, but what is really happening at my old alma mater???

[Guest A-TOWN]

Whats the enrollment now, there like the 3 biggest school in the district now

[Guest Kelly Football]

As an older Mustang I can't understand why the enrollment has dropped so drastically over the last several years?  Can anyone tell me how a small 5A school can end up a small 3A school in a matter of 20 years?  What is even more amazing is that if you were to sit in the stands at the football games you can not really tell that much of a difference in what the crowds used to be and what they are now.  I know that you very rarely here good things about the school district in general except for athletics, but what is really happening at my old alma mater???

Coaches under paid. 

[stangchain]

LOL on coaches being underpaid.

I think it has to do with the district being improperly run.  People don't want their kids going to school where those in charge don't know how to manage their money, don't know how to discipline the kids in the right way (zero tolerance how about it---quit giving the losers chance after chance after chance while they disrupt those who WANT to learn).  Nooooo....some are so worried about the money that they can't manage that they try to keep everybody in school, no matter WHAT the cost.  Just don't know when the administration is going to wake up. 

[Tiger90]

Lot bigger than your central office.  I do not know all the ins and outs but it takes solid teachers, parents, and most importantly students to make a difference.  It is obvious you dislike your school's leadership over there but money issues are not dictating your TAKS scores. 

Back to the original post, I would imagine the Orange county economy probably has more to do with enrollment than anything else.  Hasn't BC and OF dropped a bit as well?

[rhino1877]

They are not even close to a big 3A.

Bridge City Cardinals Coach: Cris Stump (707 enrollment)

R/L 20/7, Starters O/D 9/8, 2007 record 0-10, 0-7 District.

Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns Coach: Walt Mangan (568 enrollment)

R/L 17/14, Starters O/D 6/7, 2007 record 5-5, 3-4 District.

Orangefield Bobcats Coach: Blake Morrison (521 enrollment)

R/L 16/15, Starters O/D 5/8, 2007 record 3-7, 3-4 District.

Silsbee Tigers Coach: Bobby McGallion (843.5 enrollment)

R/L 15/18, Starters O/D 4/6, 2007 record 4-6, 3-4 District.

Sour Lake Hardin-Jefferson Hawks Coach: David Martel (662 enrollment)

R/L 21/9, Starters O/D 10/11, 2007 record 3-7, 1-6 District.

West Orange-Stark Mustangs Coach: Dan R. Hooks (691 enrollment)

R/L 17/14, Starters O/D 6/5, 2007 record 11-2, 7-0 District, DII Regional semifinalist.

[stangchain]

Lot bigger than your central office.  I do not know all the ins and outs but it takes solid teachers, parents, and most importantly students to make a difference.  It is obvious you dislike your school's leadership over there but money issues are not dictating your TAKS scores. 

Back to the original post, I would imagine the Orange county economy probably has more to do with enrollment than anything else.  Hasn't BC and OF dropped a bit as well?

Nothing wrong with the economy in Orange.  With all the plants here....OF and BC have both gained enrollment, with BC now being larger than WOS.  LCM has also gained.

Money issues may NOT be dictating the TAKS scores but you can bet your bottom dollar that if the money ain't being handled correctly, neither is the other stuff.  There ARE solid teachers in the school district. There are solid, veteran teachers LEAVING the district this year.  There are teachers teaching out of their field where they are not certified, while other teachers ARE certified and not being able to teach in their field.  You have no idea how poor the leadership really is.  The counselors can't even tell students how many credits they need.  Most other schools have their schedules for the next year but WOS doesn't get theirs until school starts, which creates a major fiasco.  Students have been moved from one class to another 4 and 5 weeks into the semester.  How the heck are they expected to pass the class?    What's up with that?  Teachers' hands are tied and the morale is low, but there are teachers who love the kids at WOS and it will rock on, but things are not good.  THAT is why the enrollment is dropping.

[skipper]

this sounds like something i read way back about LC-M.OK now with all the work going on at I-10 and people telling me that all the trailer parks in west orange are full and most of the APT buildings are full WOW this is not adding up

[griff]

This has veered a bit off topic from the original question, which was about why the enrollment at WO-S has dropped so drastically.  The answer is short and simple.  There are less people living in Orange (both the city and the county) than there was when wos1980 graduated.  It's not about people relocating into adjacent school districts.  It's much more about people moving out of Orange County.  Less residents = less students.  Since 1980, the number of people who have moved out of Orange is greater than the number of those who have moved into Orange.  That's the answer concerning enrollment.  Now, as to why people are leaving, that's a broader question. 

[wos4ever]

Griff I gotta disagree with you on the amount of people living in Orange being the cause.  In 1986 there was over 2,000 students at WOS H.S., and there is currently under 700.  Do you mean to tell me that in the last 22 years almost 70% of the people have vacated the WOS school district.  There is no way!!  It has to do with the leadership in the district and mainly the leadership at certain campuses!!  I would NEVER let my child go to the WOS H.S. solely based on that reason!!  If you want to know why the enrollment is dropping the quality of leadership definately comes into play with MANY people in this town.  It is truly is ashame to because I attended WOS and it used to be a quality school, maybe the most quality around!!  I ran into one of my old h.s. teachers at Wal Mart a few weeks back and she was telling me how poor that the leadership was and why she had left.  It is truly ashame for whatever reason some people get jobs and keep them for all the wrong reasons!!

[Gasilla]

Griff I gotta disagree with you on the amount of people living in Orange being the cause.  In 1986 there was over 2,000 students at WOS H.S., and there is currently under 700.  Do you mean to tell me that in the last 22 years almost 70% of the people have vacated the WOS school district.  There is no way!!  It has to do with the leadership in the district and mainly the leadership at certain campuses!!  I would NEVER let my child go to the WOS H.S. solely based on that reason!!  If you want to know why the enrollment is dropping the quality of leadership definately comes into play with MANY people in this town.  It is truly is ashame to because I attended WOS and it used to be a quality school, maybe the most quality around!!  I ran into one of my old h.s. teachers at Wal Mart a few weeks back and she was telling me how poor that the leadership was and why she had left.  It is truly ashame for whatever reason some people get jobs and keep them for all the wrong reasons!!

While I agree that the leadership at the school is terrible, let's get something clear. WO-S has never, ever, had 2,000 students. The most the school has had was a little over 1,400 and that was when the 2 schools first combined. In 1986 we had around 1,200.

[griff]

Griff I gotta disagree with you on the amount of people living in Orange being the cause.  In 1986 there was over 2,000 students at WOS H.S., and there is currently under 700.  Do you mean to tell me that in the last 22 years almost 70% of the people have vacated the WOS school district.  There is no way!!  It has to do with the leadership in the district and mainly the leadership at certain campuses!!  I would NEVER let my child go to the WOS H.S. solely based on that reason!!  If you want to know why the enrollment is dropping the quality of leadership definately comes into play with MANY people in this town.  It is truly is ashame to because I attended WOS and it used to be a quality school, maybe the most quality around!!  I ran into one of my old h.s. teachers at Wal Mart a few weeks back and she was telling me how poor that the leadership was and why she had left.  It is truly ashame for whatever reason some people get jobs and keep them for all the wrong reasons!!

We never had 2,000 students.  The decline of enrollment from the WO-S district began way before the problem with leadership began.  You've got to put this in historical perspective.  When I graduated in 1985, we had 356 in my senior class.  We haven't had a senior class that large since then.  I'm not debating the internal problems within the schools.  I'm also not refuting the fact that there has been some relocating of residents from the WO-S district to other districts.  My point is to say that the MAIN reason WO-S student enrollment has been in decline since the 1980's and continues to this day is because the population of Orange is shrinking.  Plain and simple.   

[skipper]

NO AMERICAN BRIDGE- NO LEVINSTON - Thats Alot Of People GONE  ,i dont think it has to do with the schools in orange county. i do think the citys of orange , west orange ,pinehurst better get off tails and start  trying to get  people back into there citys thats just me thinking this

[Terrier]

The population of Orange may be increasing but it is people without children. Today's families are smaller than they were in the past. Four or Five children per family was common at one time. Now there are a lot of just one or two children families.

[tvc184]

According to the census, Orange has dropped from almost 24,000 in 1980 to under 18,000. That is a 25% drop in population in less than 30 years.

[AggiesAreWe]

According to the census, Orange has dropped from almost 24,000 in 1980 to under 18,000. That is a 25% drop in population in less than 30 years.

Is that 18,000 what is now the population? If so, how in the world can you have that many people within the city limits and only have 691 in high school? Just how many of those within the city limits attend LCM?

I ask these questions because the numbers just don't make sense. In Silsbee, we have a population of 6,360, but have 843 in high school. We have 150 more students in high school than WOS but our city has 12,000 less. What's up with that?

[Guest Buford T. Justice]

LOL on coaches being underpaid.

I think it has to do with the district being improperly run.  People don't want their kids going to school where those in charge don't know how to manage their money, don't know how to discipline the kids in the right way (zero tolerance how about it---quit giving the losers chance after chance after chance while they disrupt those who WANT to learn).  Nooooo....some are so worried about the money that they can't manage that they try to keep everybody in school, no matter WHAT the cost.  Just don't know when the administration is going to wake up. 

AMEN!

[wos1980]

Griff I gotta disagree with you on the amount of people living in Orange being the cause.  In 1986 there was over 2,000 students at WOS H.S., and there is currently under 700.  Do you mean to tell me that in the last 22 years almost 70% of the people have vacated the WOS school district.  There is no way!!  It has to do with the leadership in the district and mainly the leadership at certain campuses!!  I would NEVER let my child go to the WOS H.S. solely based on that reason!!  If you want to know why the enrollment is dropping the quality of leadership definately comes into play with MANY people in this town.  It is truly is ashame to because I attended WOS and it used to be a quality school, maybe the most quality around!!  I ran into one of my old h.s. teachers at Wal Mart a few weeks back and she was telling me how poor that the leadership was and why she had left.  It is truly ashame for whatever reason some people get jobs and keep them for all the wrong reasons!!

I will agree with a little of both explanations!!  Though I don't think that WOS has ever had 2,000 students, I know that is has had over 1,600 in the late 1970's.  I can't explain the number in the town and the number in the school, because it just doesn't add up.  I do believe the leadership at certain campuses in the district are sketchy, and that is not based on what I hear but based on what I have observed the last few years.  I went to a campus in the district last year to pick up a family member when I encountered what appeared to be a one principle cursing down the hallway at a student.  The guy did not look much older than one of the students and had visisble tatoos on his arm, very unprofessional!!  I then encountered another principle who just walked by and never even acknowledged that there was a situation.  I later found out this man was in charge of the entire campus!  I do believe that both could explain why the enrollment has dropped, but I personally think that there are several kids that live in the WOS district and attend other schools. 

[stangchain]

The LCM district lines cross in various places within the city limits.  Those who live in the WOS district may have family members that live in the LCM district and they use their address.  It is never checked out, but that has been going on for years and as long as they are able to play football, it's ok with LCM. 

[77]

The LCM district lines cross in various places within the city limits.  Those who live in the WOS district may have family members that live in the LCM district and they use their address.  It is never checked out, but that has been going on for years and as long as they are able to play football, it's ok with LCM. 

Your right but most players that can start for WOS move back by thier jr. or sr. year

[glove4x]

Where's stang4life?  I would like to read her opinion on this subject.

[Hazben]

People are going around the issue-two words (White Flight).Check the numbers,the ethnic breakdown %has reversed in the past 20 years. The same with Port Arthur.

[wos08]

Dress code is the #1 priority at WOSHS

Seriously, it's true.

[stangchain]

Dress code is the #1 priority at WOSHS

Seriously, it's true.

So true, 08, which shows exactly how poor the administration really is. 

[sportsfreak2008]

I will have to say I agree with students living in the WOS school district and attending LCM.  However, I do know that LCM checks where students live, but when a parent, grandparent or guardian comes to the school and says they live with another relative who lives in the LCM district there is not much you can do.  There are many ways to get around it, more than people think.  WOS has to change their thinking from total athletics to more academics. That change will be made whether it is by the people in charge or by the state.