By Vickie Welborn, The Town Talk
For the first time ever, white students are in the minority, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Michelle Caballero raises her hand in class to answer a question at Tuesday morning at Creswell Elementary School in Shreveport. The third-grader and two of her siblings attend the school, which is home to a diverse population encompassing a large population of Hispanic students. (Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith/ The Times)
Both the percentage and number of white students in U.S. schools are expected to drop slowly but steadily over the next several years, from 50 percent in 2013 to 45 percent in 2022. Meanwhile, Hispanic students will grow from 26 percent to 30 percent of the school population, with their numbers rising by nearly 3 million.
In Louisiana, 47 percent of the student population is white, compared to 45 percent black, 4 percent Hispanic and 1 percent Asian. Bringing it closer to home, almost 52 percent of Rapides Parish’s total student population of 23,842 is white. About 43 percent is black and 3 percent Hispanic.
That compares to Caddo Parish’s total student population of 41,146 being almost 64 percent black, with whites at almost 31 percent and Hispanics at 2.53 percent.
More significant for Caddo is the realization that the percentage of students for whom English was not the first language spoken in the home has grown by 293 percent over the past nine years. During the same timeframe, overall enrollment in Caddo dropped by 1.5 percent.
Rapides Parish has 450 students with English as their second language this year. Most of those are Hispanic (279) but 171 are spread over three ethnic categories — black, white and Asian or Pacific Islander.
The district provides ESL teachers and paraprofessionals in schools where there is a large population of English Language Learners.
“They provide in-class support and pull out instruction depending upon the need,” Rapides Executive Assistant Superintendent Arthur Joffrion said. “Each ELL student has a specific plan with accommodations like our 504 or special education students.“
With projections for numbers of ELL students in Caddo Parish to continually climb, plans are in the works to transition them from three designated Newcomer Centers into the schools that serve the neighborhoods where they live. The goal is to have all ELL students fully immersed into their home schools in the 2016-17 school year, said Keith Burton, chief academic officer.
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