We have seen a slight decline in enrollment since 2022, but it’s important to put that in context. Enrollment today is still very close to where it was five years ago. This is not a sharp drop or a sudden loss—it’s a gradual shift that districts across the state and country are experiencing.

When you look at the actual numbers, the decline is small. Over five years, enrollment is down by about 1.3% total. In any given year, the change has been around 1% or less. That kind of change is something school districts manage regularly through staffing and scheduling—not through school closures.

Because school closures are permanent decisions with long-term consequences. They affect students, families, neighborhoods, and staff, and they are very difficult to undo. Making that kind of decision based on a modest and slow-moving trend would be premature. The data for Leon County simply does not show an urgent need to close neighborhood schools.  Many school districts across the state are closing schools that have occupancy levels below 50%, which is not the case for Leon County, we have only two traditional schools below 70% occupancy.  In addition, we are expanding Pre-K programs in our schools from 600 students to 1200 students in one year.  This allows for a stable environment for small children to learn with highly qualified teachers and will increase kindergarten readiness.

In many cases, what we’re seeing is movement within the district, not students disappearing. Families may choose different programs or schools, and enrollment may shift from one campus to another, even while the total number of students stays fairly steady.

Small changes in enrollment can happen for many reasons, including:

• Changes in birth rate
• Housing and development patterns
• Family moves in and out of the area
• School choice options and specialized programs
• Differences in class sizes from one graduating group to the next

These are normal factors and don’t automatically signal long-term decline.

We are closely monitoring enrollment trends each year, making targeted adjustments where needed, and planning responsibly. This allows us to support students and staff while keeping our options open as trends continue to develop.  Closing an individual school site would save the district only between $800,000 to $1.2 million dollars.  To put that into perspective a minimum of six schools would need to be closed to give each employee a 3% pay increase.

If future data shows a larger, sustained, and accelerating decline, those conversations would happen openly and carefully. Right now, the data does not point us in that direction.