Bellaire and Lamar High School - Why are 50% of the students there economically disadvantaged? (Houston: low income, real estate)

[MikeTheMan9]

I am looking at Bellaire and Lamar High Schools on Har.com and it say that roughly 50% of students from both schools are economically disadvantaged. What does this mean?

I see the map on Har.com and they are zoned to where the house prices are 500k-1mil+ so I am wondering why 50% of students are classified as economically disadvantaged in these 2 high schools in Houston.

[DJboutit]

Bellaire back in 1995 they annexed like 3 or 4 apt complexes right near Bellaire and Hillcroft because they were not diverse enough even though the complexes are a lot closer to Sharpstown. Annexing these complexes brought the overall school rating down a lot.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by MikeTheMan9

I am looking at Bellaire and Lamar High Schools on Har.com and it say that roughly 50% of students from both schools are economically disadvantaged. What does this mean?

I see the map on Har.com and they are zoned to where the house prices are 500k-1mil+ so I am wondering why 50% of students are classified as economically disadvantaged in these 2 high schools in Houston.

Both schools have magnet programs that attract low SES students from other parts of town. Even without the magnet transfers, about 50% of their zoned students are low SES.

[MikeTheMan9]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Both schools have magnet programs that attract low SES students from other parts of town. Even without the magnet transfers, about 50% of their zoned students are low SES.

I looked at the zoning maps and it looks like Bellaire and Lamar High Schools are zoned where the real estate prices are the highest in Houston (500k-3million+ cost). I don't get how 50% of the zoned students are low SES. Also, are there many wealthy students in these schools then out of the other 50% who live in these million dollar homes?

[jerbear30]

Apartments and condos have a higher concentration of students--that's one reason. Also, many HISD parents of limited or average means who live outside of Bellaire/Lamar zoning areas apply their kids to these schools. Finally, if you're rich enough to buy a 3 million dollar home, you can probably afford private school, and many rich people choose that option.

[MikeTheMan9]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

Apartments and condos have a higher concentration of students--that's one reason. Also, many HISD parents of limited or average means who live outside of Bellaire/Lamar zoning areas apply their kids to these schools. Finally, if you're rich enough to buy a 3 million dollar home, you can probably afford private school, and many rich people choose that option.

Okay, so rich people usually send their kids to private schools vs. public schools here in Houston?

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by MikeTheMan9

Okay, so rich people usually send their kids to private schools vs. public schools here in Houston?

Well, a greater percentage of rich people send their kids to private schools, yes. That's probably true everywhere. FWIW, Bellaire and Lamar are both very good schools. I don't know why you're so hung up on the percentage of economically disadvantaged kids there, especially since it's not even that high.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by MikeTheMan9

I looked at the zoning maps and it looks like Bellaire and Lamar High Schools are zoned where the real estate prices are the highest in Houston (500k-3million+ cost). I don't get how 50% of the zoned students are low SES. Also, are there many wealthy students in these schools then out of the other 50% who live in these million dollar homes?

Yep, in Lamar's case, theres a lot of really poor kids and a lot of really rich kids. Ethnically, there was no majority group there when I went there in the early 2000s, and thats probably still the case. I was a magnet transfer - there were a lot of us there.

Also it was a really good school then and remains so today. Not sure the rationale for harping on the number of low-SES kids, but most kids who are willing to work hard will have success there regardless of background.

[WRM20]

Full campus demographics reports on this site Demographics / Campus Demographic Report

[crone]

They get the low income number from the people getting reduced and free lunches.

The school districts need to verify only 3% or 3000 of the applications, whichever is less. They send out a letter asking those people to verify their income. The schools are in no great hurry to disqualify kids because the schools get a bunch of extra money for every kid on reduce or free lunch. IIRC, it's over a thousand per student. It's been a year or two since I confirmed this info. Perhaps Trump changed it.

I read of one district that was giving 10$ Walmart gift cards to every applicant.

Some people are really bothered by that economically disadvantage number. Sometimes it is meaningless.