Volume 13, No.2, April 2002

Missouri Hispanic Public School Enrollment, 1990-2000

As Missouri’s Hispanic population increased dramatically during the 1990s, so too did Hispanic school enrollment. In the 1990s, Missouri public schools reported 6,131 Hispanic children enrolled. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Hispanic public school enrollment had increased to 16,269 in 2000, two and a half times greater than in 1990.

Although all but five Missouri counties had Hispanic students enrolled in 2000, nearly three-fourths (74.8 percent) of all Hispanic students were enrolled in one of Missouri’s 22 metropolitan counties. Jackson County (Kansas City) alone accounts for 33 percent of Hispanic school enrollment but only 12 percent of total enrollment. As shown in Table 1, 5,345 Hispanic students were enrolled in Jackson County with an additional 1,784 students enrolled in the remaining six Kansas City suburban counties. In total, the Kansas City metro area included 43.8 percent of Missouri’s total Hispanic student enrollment. On the other side of the state, 2,799 Hispanic students, 17.2 percent of total state enrollment, were enrolled in the public schools of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the remaining six suburban counties. An additional 2,237 Hispanic students, 13.7 percent of the state total, were enrolled in the eight counties comprising the Springfield, Joplin, St. Joseph, and Columbia metro areas.

Graph 1 shows the annual increase in Hispanic school enrollment in Missouri. Graph 2 provides the same information for Jackson County.   

Graph 1 Click on graphic for larger image.

Graph 2 Click on graphic for larger image.

These graphs show that increases in Hispanic enrollment were relatively steady throughout the 1990s, although the rate of increase was somewhat greater from 1996 to 2000. Table 1 shows a similar pattern of year to year change in the St. Louis, Springfield and Columbia metro areas.

Dramatic Increases in Some Rural Counties

Of particular significance with regard to Hispanic school enrollment were the dramatic increases that occurred in 11 rural Missouri counties during the 1990s. Ten of those were counties in which large-scale meat processing plants opened during the last half of the 1990s. The remaining county was Taney (Branson) in which job growth doubled during the 1990s. These 11 counties are clearly visible on Map 1 that shows counties where Hispanic school enrollment increased by more than 100 students over the decade.

To illustrate the impact of rapid enrollment increases in these counties we have included four graphs that show annual change in enrollment in McDonald, Sullivan, Pettis and Taney Counties. The year-to-year changes were especially dramatic in McDonald, Sullivan and Pettis counties beginning in the mid-1990s when meat-processing plants opened in each county. As shown in Graph 3, Sullivan County increased from only nine Hispanic students in 1996 to 133 students in 2000. Similarly, McDonald County increased from 44 students in 1994 to 431 students in 2000. The pattern of growth was more uniform over time in Taney County because the local economy was not affected by the addition of a single large employer, as in the case of the meat processing counties, but stimulated by job growth in the tourism and recreation sector.

Graph 3

Graph 4

Graph 5

Graph 6

Remaining Rural Counties

As is evident from Map 2, most rural counties had less than 20 Hispanic students enrolled in 2000. Of the rural counties with a Hispanic enrollment of more than 20 but less than 1,000, most are counties with relatively large regional trade centers such as Kirksville, Rolla, Poplar Bluff, and Cape Girardeau. While the in-migration of a culturally and ethnically distinct group of students presents opportunities and challenges to all school districts, rural districts are particularly affected. Since a majority of rural schools have a total district enrollment of less than 600, an increase of more than 50 students in a short period of time would tax capacity of existing facilities and teachers.