Dropping Enrollment @ WOS

[Cat22]

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?

Orangefield has gained some students.  15 years ago OF was right around 400, now we are just over 500.  OF will continue to grow.  New additions are going up all over the district.

[AggiesAreWe]

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.

That just about says it all.

[stangchain]

Unless you are closely associated with the WOCCISD school district, you have no idea what their focus is.  I can assure you that the administration's focus is NOT athletics!  Neither is the school board!  There are a few on the school board who do support athletics, but there are others who despise the attention that athletics, especially football, gets.  The administration is TRYING to focus on academics.  Problem is, no one knows what the heck they are doing and the entire district and ALL programs are suffering as a result!

[sportsfreak2008]

Unless you are closely associated with the WOCCISD school district, you have no idea what their focus is.  I can assure you that the administration's focus is NOT athletics!  Neither is the school board!  There are a few on the school board who do support athletics, but there are others who despise the attention that athletics, especially football, gets.  The administration is TRYING to focus on academics.  Problem is, no one knows what the heck they are doing and the entire district and ALL programs are suffering as a result!

Seems that you know alot about what goes on in the admin office stangchain.  If my memory serves me correct those that are in charge should put others in charge that DO know what they are doing.  If they care so much about academics and not so much about athletics then they need to make changes by getting rid of those people.  Excuses won't be acceptable when TEA steps in and make those changes.

[Silsbee92]

I have said it for years. 

How in the H$%# can you have 4 schools (FOUR!) within 5 miles of each other??

I have no idea what the situation is within the administration of WOS, but I will tell you this.

The only thing positive being said about WOS outside of you're school district for the last 15 years is "boy they have a good football tradition over there."

Yet you have a "New" district growing in you're backyard that will surpass you in enrollment very soon.

No matter what, it is a sad day when WOS no longer plays football because there will not be a district if it keeps going the direction it is going.

Just my opinion.  Take it or leave it.

[WOS95]

i find it very amusing that everyone thinks wos is only concerned about athletics and not academics.  yes our football team is very successful, but most of our other athletic programs are not exactly what i would call the best in the area hopefully they are turning around.  our athletic facilities are the same ones we used when west orange stark did not even exist, they're from the days of the west orange chiefs.  the bond issue that recently passed is for new schools and improvements to existing schools first and then if there is any money left over after those projects then athletics will be addressed.  as far as the students from wos, every year kids from wos attend major universities and are very successful after high school. 

[Guest ECBucFan]

i find it very amusing that everyone thinks wos is only concerned about athletics and not academics. 

For what its worth, the overwhelming perception in the area is that WO-S is all about Hooks and football, not "athletics" in general. Case in point: EC and H-F has the rice bowl, something both communities get really excited about. Season before last, the media attended the rice bowl...and led off with...a close up and commentary about (not EC & H-F & our Rice Bowl)...but Dan Hooks in EC's stadium, scouting H-F! This would never have happend at a basketball or baseball game. No offense, just seeing the truth in it.   

[skipper]

VERY VERY VERY WELL PUT WOS95  you beat me to that but you put it in better than i could have

[WOS87]

Looks like we've got dueling threads regarding the enrollment of WO-S

These numbers are the official enrollments counting grades 9-12 in each of the respective high schools published by the TEA in their annual Standard Reports.  The numbers differ slightly from the UIL enrollment numbers but they should be pretty close.   

The very highest enrollment WO-S ever had was back when it first opened in the late 1970's topping out in the 1400's.  My sisters graduated in '79 and '81 with graduating classes in the upper 300's... my graduating class of '87 had 297 graduates.

If you look at the chart above, the actual enrollment was actually pretty stable, only drifting downward 100 students between 1988 and 1999.  There has been a plummet in enrollment since 2005, which I attribute to Rita... you'll notice the enrollment of all Orange county schools except for Orangefield (with an increase of only 8 students) have decreased since pre-Rita in 2004.

[WOSHIGHc/o2001]

I graduated in 2001.  My freshman year we had around 350 students in my class.  The biggest class maybe ever or in a long time.  I don't remember.  When we graduated our # was down around 250. 

[Hotrodg]

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? 

First, WOS is by no stretch of the imagination a "small 3A".

But to answer your question:

Hurricane Rita + increasingly larger schools around the state moving the enrollment cutoffs for all classes increasingly higher.

[WOSgrad]

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.

I guess given recent football success and TAKS problems that the above would be an easy generalization to make...but not necessarily accurate.  In the same years that Coach Hooks and the football team was racking up victories, folks like Jim Ramsden, Ken Rush, Claire Shiffman, Bob Coombs, Dr. Carol McGill, Glen Finley, Barbara Dardeau, Mr. Booth (i'm sorry I don't remember his first name) and many others were coaching Mustangs off the football field to victories in academic, band choir and vocational competitions throughout the state.  Unless you walked the halls on Newton Street, you have probably not heard of a lot of these folks simply because, well, there isn't a whole section of the Orange Leader devoted to debate tournament results.  During the years I was going to school, and as I understand well into WO-S' tenure in 4A, we didn't just win the UIL Academic Meets during the spring, we dominated them.  So enough about the emphasis not being on academics within WOCCISD.

In reading the threads that have touched on this, I think if you take the individual reasons and mesh them all together, you will come up with the reason for the decline in WO-S' enrollment.  The collapse of Levingston and American Bridge in the mid-80's certainly led to a mass exodus from the Orange area.  The next biggest industry in Orange, petrochemicals, has been stagnant, if not declining, as well.  Last year, the Schulman plant was shut down and other plants on Chemical Row have reduced their employees either through attrition or limited job cuts.  And quite simply, you aren't going to stay where you aren't able to work.

Of course, I am not going to be naive enough to say that the current situation within the school district doesn't have something to do with the reduction of enrollment in the district.  Particularly now that because of the district's rating it MUST provide vouchers to any student to pay for out of district tuition should his or her parents wish to have their child attend school in another district. And it is a situation that must be corrected by Dr. Collins and the trustees very soon, or their successors if they are unsuccessful.

But one factor that I have not seen is the reduction of population in the area as a whole.  I'll use my senior year of 1985-1986 as a reference.  That year, the Golden Triangle had enough 5A enrollment schools to fill a single eight team district.  Today, of those eight schools, only West Brook is able to maintain a 5A enrollment in essentially the same makeup it had back then.  Heck, three of those schools no longer exist!  In the same time, there has been only one new high school, Ozen, which has not been the result of a merger of two or more high schools. 

Hopefully, the promise of the expansion of plants in the area with boost the population of all of the school districts, including WO-S.

[KFDM COOP]

I don't think alot of people realize how much the closing of Levingston and American Bridge effected WO-S. There were Thousands that worked there.

[skipper]

DONT FORGET THE NAVY BASE what a blow that was to orange

[AggiesAreWe]

I understand about some industries closing and Rita causing population to drop in Orange. What I am questioning is what is the population in Orange right now? Is it the 18,000 that was posted earlier? If so, how can you have that many in the city limits and have less than 700 in high school? The numbers just don't make any sense. I compared Silsbee's numbers ( city pop. 6360, high school 843 ) and it just doesn't seem possible that WOS has that few numbers based on the cities population. Something else has to be driving students away from that school distict or the numbers are way off.

Yes, the PERCEPTION is that the only thing that matters at WOS is football. I have seen the other sports digress over the last few years ( exception, that one year in basketball and track, which is football related ) and their UIL academic teams and their band. Their band has really fallen off over the years, I believe making 4's at contest the last few years, though I could be wrong on that.

Bottom line is, yes several schools in our area have been hurt by the economy and other things beyond our control. But I think WOS has been hurt more so than others because of some things they could control.

[tvc184]

 

Does that mean that Vidor is suffering from White Flight? (since that has been brought up)

[wosmustangs]

Simply stated, this is not the West Orange-Stark that we attended.  WO-S was the GLORY OF THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE...  Absolutely not to be debated.  THAT West Orange-Stark doesn't exist anymore. Football is still "a cut above".  This is not your daddy's oldsmobile and never will be again....  That is a shame......

[Cat22]

I know this may be coincidental, but looking at the chart that WOS87 posted if you add the gains of LCM, OF, & BC it's 358 almost the exact amount that WOS has lost (354).

[BHFAN]

I understand about some industries closing and Rita causing population to drop in Orange. What I am questioning is what is the population in Orange right now? Is it the 18,000 that was posted earlier? If so, how can you have that many in the city limits and have less than 700 in high school? The numbers just don't make any sense. I compared Silsbee's numbers ( city pop. 6360, high school 843 ) and it just doesn't seem possible that WOS has that few numbers based on the cities population. Something else has to be driving students away from that school distict or the numbers are way off.

Yes, the PERCEPTION is that the only thing that matters at WOS is football. I have seen the other sports digress over the last few years ( exception, that one year in basketball and track, which is football related ) and their UIL academic teams and their band. Their band has really fallen off over the years, I believe making 4's at contest the last few years, though I could be wrong on that.

Bottom line is, yes several schools in our area have been hurt by the economy and other things beyond our control. But I think WOS has been hurt more so than others because of some things they could control.

According to Wikipedia Orange had an enrollment of 18000 in 2000.. See Link

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[Gasilla]

Ok, no one else will say it, so I will. What the heck are Silsbee people doing on a public message board making defamatory assumptions about a school district that they have absolutely no clue about? I have a child who will be a senior this year and I can give you an EDUCATED opinion that the school is far more concerned about academics than they are athletics and more specifically, football. In fact, the principle, who is a detriment to the school, does nothing to help athletics and does more to hurt them. He is the same guy who has been there for at least 6 years and is not on the same page with anyone. Coaches, teachers or students.

As for your assumptions that, because WO-S is still successful in FOOTBALL, that they are only concerned with athletics. A healthy academic environment goes hand in hand with a healthy athletic program... See South Lake Carol, Katy, Austin West Lake and WO-S in the 80's. The list goes on and on. The only reason that the WO-S "perception" is what it is, is because people make assonine assumptions about it in public or they are jealous because the program or coach gets more attention then their precious local bowl game. That's the fault of the local media, not WO-S or it's coach. Some of these statements are freakin ridiculous.

As for the "mystery" behind our students compared to our population (as compared to Silsbee's). Silsbee has 6,300 people and one highschool with 840 people. Since the world revolves around Silsbee, I'll guess that the standard is that any town should average 840 students per 6,300 people. Orange has 3 highschools. WO-S @ 717, LCM @ 1,160 and Orangefield @ 515. This is a total of 2,392 students. 2,392/840= 2.85. 2.85 X 6,300= 17,955 people. Don't want any of you trying to dig up hidden students or anything or blowing a fuse trying to figure the population mystery out. Next thing you know is that we will be trying to sandbag our enrollment to gain an advantage in football.

The bottom line is that WO-S is still successful in football because of great coaching and hard work. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a football factory that farts out super human athletes that do not have to pass and have only one purpose and that is to play football. However, football is the one bright spot at a school riddled with problems that the community and students can cling to. If things don't get turned around in a hurry, those people who still believe and work their asses off will be gone and you just watch how fast that last bright spot falls into shambles. THE LAST thing this school needs are uneducated people going into a public forum and dragging the efforts of so many through the mud even more. Get your facts right or stay out of it.

[skipper]

i agree with you on that, lets close the door on this and go on to other things.    PS what happned to the mustang band ,was very big at one time where did all of them go-------------- NORTH

[stangchain]

Well said, Gasilla.  Fact is, there are some in the administration that are so jealous of the football program's success that they are willing to bring it down along with the rest of the district.  Some of them can't understand how the football program can get the kids to act right, study, and pass.  They don't realize the tradition of the Mustang program.  WHY?  Because they are outsiders!  They are not FROM WOS and instead of building off what the football program does to be successful (making the kids do right), they are jealous and do whatever they can to hurt the program.  Coaches WALK players to tutorials.  I've heard that the only kids IN tutorials are the football players.  Nobody seems to understand how the coaches get the students to cooperate.  Who are the adults here?  You MUST have discipline within the school or it will fall apart.  They are letting kids get away with some things and punishing them for others.  If a parent complains, they don't seem to back up the teachers.  Kids have threatened teachers and the administration sends them back to class the next day.  Until the white house gets enough guts to talk to the teachers to find out what the problems are, or the district finds a new president that can handle the problems, guess what?  There are STILL going to be problems.  And how right you are, Gasilla....I didn't know Silsbee had a dog in the fight!

[Guest Dirk Diggler]

You are 100 and 10% Correct!

[Guest Ozen]

Well said, Gasilla.  Fact is, there are some in the administration that are so jealous of the football program's success that they are willing to bring it down along with the rest of the district.  Some of them can't understand how the football program can get the kids to act right, study, and pass.  They don't realize the tradition of the Mustang program.  WHY?  Because they are outsiders!  They are not FROM WOS and instead of building off what the football program does to be successful (making the kids do right), they are jealous and do whatever they can to hurt the program.  Coaches WALK players to tutorials.  I've heard that the only kids IN tutorials are the football players.  Nobody seems to understand how the coaches get the students to cooperate.  Who are the adults here?  You MUST have discipline within the school or it will fall apart.  They are letting kids get away with some things and punishing them for others.  If a parent complains, they don't seem to back up the teachers.  Kids have threatened teachers and the administration sends them back to class the next day.  Until the white house gets enough guts to talk to the teachers to find out what the problems are, or the district finds a new president that can handle the problems, guess what?  There are STILL going to be problems.  And how right you are, Gasilla....I didn't know Silsbee had a dog in the fight!

I'm sure this goes on at alot of Schools, you have to have the right people in charge in the White House.

[stangchain]

Well said, Gasilla.  Fact is, there are some in the administration that are so jealous of the football program's success that they are willing to bring it down along with the rest of the district.  Some of them can't understand how the football program can get the kids to act right, study, and pass.  They don't realize the tradition of the Mustang program.  WHY?  Because they are outsiders!  They are not FROM WOS and instead of building off what the football program does to be successful (making the kids do right), they are jealous and do whatever they can to hurt the program.  Coaches WALK players to tutorials.  I've heard that the only kids IN tutorials are the football players.  Nobody seems to understand how the coaches get the students to cooperate.  Who are the adults here?  You MUST have discipline within the school or it will fall apart.  They are letting kids get away with some things and punishing them for others.  If a parent complains, they don't seem to back up the teachers.  Kids have threatened teachers and the administration sends them back to class the next day.  Until the white house gets enough guts to talk to the teachers to find out what the problems are, or the district finds a new president that can handle the problems, guess what?  There are STILL going to be problems.  And how right you are, Gasilla....I didn't know Silsbee had a dog in the fight!

I'm sure this goes on at alot of Schools, you have to have the right people in charge in the White House.

I don't know if your WHite House and my white house are one and the same.  The employees in the WOCCISD call their administration building the white house.