Enrollment in the Palm Beach County School District is undergoing a broad, nearly district-wide decline that, contrary to frequent criticism, does not appear to be tied to the academic performance of specific schools, an analysis by The Palm Beach Post of school-level data shows.
That decline is expected to lead to a significant drop in state funding, which is tied in part to enrollment. The district has already eliminated all 76 of its media clerk positions, and, in the wake of the enrollment count conducted on Aug. 24, it is eliminating 214 teacher positions, 24 support staff positions and six administration positions.
"We are currently working to reassign these impacted employees to available vacant roles," a district spokesman said.
Parents
have already noticed the impact of the reassignments, as teachers are moved from one school to another. The district said it has no plan to close schools "at this time."
"Instead, our goal is to retain current students and work to increase enrollment by showcasing what makes our schools the best choice for our community," the district spokesman said. "If enrollment patterns continue, we would look first at better uses of existing space, including new programs and co-located services before any consideration about closing a school."
Just over 68% of the district's 235 charter, alternative and traditional district-operated schools lost enrollment, including 17 of its 24 district-operated high schools, 86 of its 111 district-operated elementary schools and 23 of its 33 district-operated middle schools. There was a year-over-year enrollment decline at 25 of 51 charter schools, which are a part of the district but are operated independently.
Large enrollment losses were scattered across the district geographically and across grade levels. Nine district-operated elementary schools had enrollment declines of 100 students or more. Ten district-operated high school had enrollment declines of 100 more, including five — Atlantic, John I. Leonard, Lake Worth, Olympic Heights and Palm Beach Lakes — where year-over-year enrollment was down by more than 200 students.
Palm Springs Middle, where enrollment was down by 133 students, was the only middle school with a year-over-year drop of 100 or more.
Critics of the district say the enrollment decline is an indication that too many of its schools are doing a poor job and parents, now armed with taxpayer-funded vouchers, are flocking to private schools or home schooling their children.
But The Post's analysis does not back up that criticism.
The private school landscape in Palm Beach County is expanding, but it is still far too small to be responsible by itself for the huge enrollment decline the district is experiencing. And that decline is taking place without any apparent tie to a school's grade from the state Department of Education.
Even top-rated schools lost students
Seven of the nine elementary schools with enrollment declines of 100 or more students had a grade of 'A' or 'B.' That was true for six of the 10 high schools with year-over-year declines of 100 or more students, and Palm Springs Middle has a 'B' grade from the state.
The exodus is not limited to low-performing schools. Nor is there a clear geographic connection.
Enrollment at Jupiter Elementary, which has an 'A' grade, is down by 111 students from August 2025, district enrollment figures show.
Discovery Key Elementary in Wellington, which has an 'A' grade, is down 119 students. A little further west at Saddle View Elementary, which got an 'A' grade in its first year of operation in 2025-26, enrollment was up by 103 students.
Saddle View was one of only seven schools where enrollment was up by 100 or more students. That includes Palmetto Park High in Boca Raton, where year-over-year enrollment was up by 100 students. Not far way, at Hammock Pointe Elementary, enrollment is down by 101 students.
The district has moved up construction of a new elementary near Westlake to accommodate population growth in that part of the county.
The enrollment slide since 2024
Despite pockets of population growth — and total population growth in the county — the trend over the last three school years has been one of enrollment decline for the district.
The 177,772 students the district counted on Aug. 24 is down by 13,290 students from the August 2024 count and by 7,204 students from the August 2025 count.
During the 2024-25 school year, high schools were at 92% capacity. Middle schools were at 73% capacity, and elementary schools were at 79% capacity, according to August 2024 district figures. The next year, capacity had dipped to 89% for high schools, 70% for middle schools and 75% for elementary schools.
Current capacity is 86% for high schools, 69% for middle schools and 72% for elementary schools.
Last year, state lawmakers expanded the Schools of Hope program that allowed charter school operators to establish charter schools in any underused traditional school building, regardless of that school's academic performance. The district got a trio of requests from operators who wanted to "co-locate" at more than 40 district school sites. District officials declined all of those requests, arguing that allowing the charters to operate at district school sites was impractical and that, as one of 13 districts designated as high-performing, it was exempt from the program's rules.
The state has a formula for calculating capacity and deems schools at less than 90% capacity under that formula to be "under capacity."
The district calculates capacity based on building type and size. Many of its schools have a capacity percentage in the 60s, 50s and 40s. Three — Indian Pines Elementary in Lake Worth Beach (37%), Carver Middle in Delray Beach (34%) and K.E. Cunningham/Canal Point (34%) are in the 30s.
Still, the district says it does not have a definition for when a school is under capacity.
"Certain schools may seem less full than they truly are because they allocate space in ways the state's capacity formula does not recognize, such as using rooms for exceptional student education, specialized programs, small-group instruction, student testing, and support services for families," the district spokesman said.
Schools with big enrollment drops
Elementary: Discovery Key (-119); Jupiter (-111); Barton (-108); Berkshire (-107); J.C. Mitchell and Whispering Pines (-103 each).
Middle: Palm Springs (-133).
High: Lake Worth (-332); John I. Leonard (-280); Atlantic (-241); Olympic Heights (-215); Palm Beach Lakes (-202).
Palm Beach Post reporter Chris Persaud contributed to this report.
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering education and Riviera Beach development for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: County schools cut 214 teaching jobs after enrollment drops | Exclusive
