College Station Today

Lee County schools enrolled 191 students identified as being gifted and talented during the 2023-24 school year, a 6.8% decrease from the previous school year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

This translates to roughly 6.1% of the 3,109 students enrolled in the county schools that year.

Lee County enrolled the 122nd highest number of gifted and talented students among Texas counties.

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 the state's 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.

School	Number of gifted and talented students	Total Number of students
Dime Box School	10	150
Giddings Elementary School	36	594
Giddings High School	35	626
Giddings Intermediate School	32	267
Giddings Middle School	30	406
Lexington Elementary School	8	488
Lexington High School	18	354
Lexington Middle School	22	224