SAN ANTONIO -- Small towns in South Texas are growing fast as the oil industry moves in. Jourdanton and Pleasanton schools are now seeing an exponential increase in students.
As families following jobs move into the Eagle Ford Shale area, Jourdanton has had about a 10 percent increase in new students.
“We also have over 200 students who have transferred to us from the area schools,” said Lana Collavo, superintendent of Jourdanton ISD.
Limited housing is making it hard for families to find places to rent in small towns, but they still want their kids to go to the better schools.
Open enrollments allow parents in the Eagle Ford Shale area to find a school that may work better for them.
Many students may finish up at a different school from where they started when their family moves for better jobs and better pay in other areas.
Linda Hall of Pleasanton ISD says, “We’ll have students come in for a couple of months and then as their parents get moved to a different rig in the shale they’ll then up and move to a different location.”
Chris Rodriguez brings his son in from Poteet. He says he feels better about Pleasanton schools.
“The job I do is traveling back and forth from town to town, to rig to rig,” said Rodriguez. He says he plans on keeping his son in one school even though he moves around.
Districts say they try to work on making new kids welcome to their towns.
“We really want them to have a friend that first day. We’ll match them up with another student who can take them and eat lunch with them and walk them to their different classes," said Hall.
