SOUR LAKE EL

SOUR LAKE EL is one of the reasonably sized elementary schools in SOUR LAKE, Texas, run under HARDIN-JEFFERSON ISD, with 720 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 519 students per school, that is 39% above typical.

Within HARDIN-JEFFERSON ISD, which oversees 6 schools and 2,762 students, SOUR LAKE EL is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, SOUR LAKE EL logs that nearly all students (81%) are White. The remainder consists of 9% Hispanic, 5% Black, 5% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Hardin County as a whole.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 52 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.1:1, putting SOUR LAKE EL tighter than the state norm the norm. About 37% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Hardin County (around 49%), the school's rate is south of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, SOUR LAKE EL is in the bottom 10% of Texas public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 57.9%; SOUR LAKE EL posts 43.1%, -14.8 points below that line.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Hardin County shows median household income runs about $75,808, roughly 21% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. SOUR LAKE EL is one of 23 public schools in Hardin County (combined enrollment of about 10,541 students).

Nearest neighbor: HARDIN-JEFFERSON J H, around 1.8 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around SOUR LAKE EL. On composite proficiency, SOUR LAKE EL comes 4th of 8 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 45.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count climbed 13%: 635 students in 2018 compared to 720 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 91% to 81%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 16.1:1 in 2018 to 13.8:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.