In Duval County, one of Florida’s oldest and largest school districts, enrollment in traditional public schools has dropped below 100,000 students for the first time in its modern history, according to district data. This 16% decline over the past 10 years has forced school officials to confront difficult questions about potential closures and funding shortfalls.
The significant drop in enrollment is caused, in part, by the 2023 expansion of Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarships, or voucher program, for home and private school students and students with disabilities, now available regardless of income. In major metropolitan school districts across the state, keeping students in public schools has become progressively challenging. Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Orange and Miami-Dade County Public Schools have bled students in recent years, according to a collection of enrollment data. [The challenge in Flagler County has been no different.]
This larger trend is clear in some of Duval’s more granular data…