Pima County’s schools student body comprised mostly of Latino students in 2021-22 school year

The majority of students in Pima County schools were Latino in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Arizona Department of Education.

Of the 145,153 students attending Pima County schools, 55.4% were Latino. White students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 30.7% of Pima County students.

In the previous school year, Latino students still were the most common group in Pima County, representing 53.2% of the student body.

Winifred Harelson Elementary School had the most even distribution of races among the county schools, which included 42.5% of Latino students, 28.3% of African American students, 16% of White students, 3.7% of American Indian or Alaskan Native students, 3.7% of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, and 3.5% of Multi-racial or non-Hispanic students.

In the 2021-22 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county increased 0.6% when compared to the previous year.

A 2023 study from Scholaroo.com ranked Arizona last out of all U.S. states in terms of educational success, giving the state poor markets for school quality, student success, and teacher-to-student ratio.

In 2022 Arizona had roughly one teacher for every 19 students, compared to the national average of one teacher for 16 students. Teachers handling a higher number of students was found to have negative consequences for students’ school performance.