Enrollment at Palm Beach County School District schools has dropped by more than 6,000 students, figures from an early count showed, forcing the reassignment of at least 120 teachers and setting the stage for a loss of as much as $25 million in state funding.
Sean Cooley, the district’s chief of communications, attributed the enrollment drop to “wider demographic shifts in our region, the expansion of the Family Empowerment Scholarships, and the rising cost of living in Palm Beach County.”
The early count showed the district has 217 total schools with 184,976 students, which is down from the 191,062 students it had at this time last year. Another enrollment count conducted in the first full week of October and due to the state on Oct. 17 will provide more information for district officials so they can make additional planning and financial decisions.
Palm Beach County had bucked school enrollment trend until now
Large school districts in Florida have been losing enrollment in recent years. Miami-Dade’s enrollment is down by 13,059 students this year, 4.2% of its total enrollment. And Broward County’s enrollment is down by 11,369 students, 4.6% of its total enrollment.
But the Palm Beach County School District had seen its student rolls largely hold steady as a booming economy and population growth helped keep a similar scenario from playing out here.
The district’s early count, conducted on the 11th day of the school year, showed that enrollment grew by 713 students in 2023-2024 and by another 1,298 students in 2024-2025. But this year’s count showed a drop of 6,086 students, about 3.3% of total enrollment.
Cooley said the district has responded to the enrollment drop by instituting a hiring freeze and reassigning teachers from district-operated schools with depleted enrollments to others where enrollment is growing.
“No personnel were laid off as we were able to manage through the standard attrition of employees who retire or leave for other opportunities,” he said.
Charter schools are operated independently; the district does not oversee their staffing.
What schools saw biggest enrollment declines?
A Palm Beach Post analysis of the district’s enrollment figures shows that the enrollment drop was most pronounced in the district’s 168 traditional public schools, nearly 77% of which lost students.
Charter schools, alternative schools and virtual schools — touted by political conservatives as necessary alternatives to a traditional public school model they often argue is not serving Florida students as well as it should — also had enrollment drops. More than 52% of the district’s 50 charter, alternative and virtual schools lost students.
Excluding Binks Forest Elementary in Wellington, whose overcrowding problem was solved with the opening of nearby Saddle View Elementary, Atlantic High in Delray Beach, where enrollment was down by 239 students, and Olympic Heights High in Boca Raton, where enrollment was down by 233 students, saw the biggest enrollment declines among traditional public schools.
Boca Raton High, where enrollment was down by 182 students, and Lake Worth Middle, where enrollment was down by 166 students, also saw significant enrollment declines.
All school levels — preschool, elementary, middle and high — saw enrollment drops.
There have been some pockets of enrollment growth, particularly in the western area of the county, where Saddle View was opened this year near Arden and in Wellington, where Dr. Joaquin Garcia High picked up an additional 285 students.
The influence of immigration policy on enrollment
Community leaders had a different description for the “wider demographic shifts” Cooley cited for the overall loss of enrollment.
Maricela Torres, executive director of the Esperanza Community Center in West Palm Beach, said many immigrant families have left the county, scared off by the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“It’s frightening,” said Torres, whose community center provides health, education, employment and financial literacy services to immigrants. “Some families have left and gone to other, friendlier places, so to speak.”
A district budget overview noted that “the majority of the (enrollment) decrease was in English-language learner students.”
News accounts in recent months have included clips of masked agents detaining and hauling away people who are in the country without documentation. Immigrant community members have spoken of the fear the current climate has generated.
Students are feeling that fear, too, Torres said.
“Some kids are staying home because they think when they go to school and come home, their parents won’t be there,” she said. “The kids are scared.”
There are other factors at play as well, Torres noted.
“Some families have self-deported,” she said. “We are seeing that.”
And rumors have taken root, too.
“There’s rumors that the schools will remove staff who teach students who don’t speak English,” Torres said. “They’re thinking, ‘How are we going to learn?’ “
The district has not announced any large-scale reduction in instruction for students who don’t speak English. And Superintendent Mike Burke has made it clear no one will be able simply to march into a district school and snatch students.
“We’ve trained all of our administrators and principals that, if anyone were to visit our campus, we’re not going to just turn over students, right?” Burke said during a back-to-school news conference in August.
“They’re going to have to have a warrant. The first thing our school administrators are going to do is call our office of general counsel. We’re going to get our attorneys involved. We’re going to review any paperwork they have, and, if there’s not a valid warrant, no one’s going to see any of our students.”
The cost of enrollment declines in the millions
No matter which students are leaving district schools, the lower enrollment will have significant financial consequences.
School Board members sounded an alarm this year when it looked like the district’s state funding could be reduced by as much as $47 million. That much-feared budget cut did not materialize; the district got an additional $18 million in state funding.
District officials said that $18 million was quickly swallowed by higher health care and energy costs. Those costs are not expected to stop rising, but district officials could be forced to cope with them and a $25 million drop in state funding. State funding is tied to enrollment.
The impact of the enrollment drop on federal funding is not yet known, district officials said.
Some of what Cooley said is driving the enrollment drop is out of the district’s control. That’s the case with the county’s high cost of living.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in West Palm Beach was $2,094 per month in September, according to figures from Apartments.com. The median sales price for a house in Palm Beach County in August was $470,000, Redfin figures show.
Those eye-popping numbers are beyond the means of many families.
The voucher effect on enrollment
The other factor Cooley cited for the enrollment drop — the rise of the Family Empowerment Scholarships — is also not something over which the district has control.
State legislators expanded that scholarship program in 2023, eliminating income-based eligibility. The number of students using those scholarships and other voucher programs to attend private schools has risen in recent years.
Republicans have touted the expanded choices parents have in Florida, though traditional public school officials argue the expanded programs siphon students and funds from the schools that still educate most of the state’s students.
District officials are unlikely to have success convincing the state Legislature to move away from those programs. Instead, Burke has argued that the Palm Beach County School District must convince parents a traditional public education offers great value.
“Some families move to Palm Beach County, and they’re under the impression they’ve got to go to a private school,” Burke said. “They feel like that’s a necessity. I’ve heard from many families that went ahead and made that decision to give our public schools a chance, and they’re very happy they did.
“I think our public schools provide better options, more robust choice. And we are held to a high standard. We are tested. We are graded. That level of accountability you do not find in the private school.”
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering education for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
Enrollment Highlights
Traditional public schools with the largest enrollment increases by percentage of enrollment:
Traditional public schools with the largest enrollment decreases by percentage of enrollment:
Non-traditional public schools with the largest enrollment increases by percentage of enrollment:
Non-traditional public schools with the largest enrollment decreases by percentage of enrollment:
Most crowded traditional public schools
Least crowded traditional public schools
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What are the costs when school district sees enrollment loss of more than 6,000 students?
Reporting by Wayne Washington, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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