1,606 Hispanic or Latino students enrolled in Otero County schools during 2024-25 school year

There were 1,606 Hispanic or Latino students enrolled in Otero County in the 2024-25 school year, 1.9% more than the previous year, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

Data showed that Otero County welcomed 2,877 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Hispanic or Latino students comprised 55.8% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 14 schools in Otero County, La Junta Jr/Sr High School recorded the highest enrollment of Hispanic or Latino students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 362 students.

Colorado’s K–12 enrollment has gradually declined each year since the pandemic, with about 3–4% fewer students in 2024 than the state’s peak enrollment in 2019.

The declines are concentrated in the early grades and certain rural areas, while some metro districts are holding steady or growing. Lower birth rates and pandemic disruptions are driving the trend. Colorado’s public schools are now serving the smallest number of students in a decade, a shift that has implications for funding and planning even as per-pupil resources increase to compensate.

Colorado’s teacher workforce faces persistent shortages and pay challenges. In the 2023–24 school year, nearly 7,000 teaching positions were vacant statewide at some point. Districts managed to fill only about 75% of those openings with fully qualified hires, leaving many to be filled by short-term substitutes, retirees, or emergency credentials for the rest, while 9% remained unfilled for the entire school year.