© 2025 WLRN
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Report shows student enrollment drop in Palm Beach County schools

Ahead of the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, a Palm Beach County School District bus driver is seen testing routes on Congress Road, Lake Worth Beach. District officials say drivers often practice their routes before classes begin. | August 9, 2024
Wilkine Brutus
Ahead of the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, a Palm Beach County School District bus driver is seen testing routes on Congress Road, Lake Worth Beach. District officials say drivers often practice their routes before classes begin. | August 9, 2024

Student enrollment overall in Palm Beach County public schools has dropped, the district’s benchmark enrollment report found.

From last fall to now, K-12 enrollment has 131 fewer students than in 2023 in all school types, which includes traditional elementary, middle and high schools but also alternative, ESE, virtual and charter schools.

Palm Beach County isn’t alone in the enrollment plunge. Broward and Miami-Dade school districts saw decreases in the thousands this year. Broward lost more than 3,000 students and Miami-Dade lost about 1,700.

Palm Beach County’s enrollment peaked in 2020 before the pandemic. The district had over 192,000 students at the time. Since then, enrollment decreased by nearly 5,000 students.

READ MORE: Officials raise concerns about Palm Beach County school attendance, tout metal detectors

This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.

Natalie La Roche Pietri is the education reporter at WLRN.
More On This Topic