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School Enrollment Down Again

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The Associated Press

Published: December 17, 2007

Updated: 12/17/2007 12:14 am

TALLAHASSEE - Florida's public school enrollment dropped by nearly 8,000 students compared with last year, another indicator of the state's slumping economy.

It was the second straight year of an enrollment drop. State economists said Friday that they expect it to fall again next year before rebounding in the fall of 2009.

"This is three years of decline in school enrollment, which is unprecedented in recent history," said Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature's Economic and Demographic Research Office.

The reason is simple: fewer out-of-state students are coming to Florida and more students are leaving, Baker said.

Public schools enrolled 2.6 million students this fall from kindergarten through high school. That's 7,692 less than last fall, when Florida recorded a decline of 2,790 students.

The forecast is for a 981-student drop next year before enrollment begins rising again. The estimate is for a 9,578-student increase in 2009 and 27,534 in 2010.

Last year was the first time Florida lost students since 1984-85, Baker said. But she said the current three-year projected decline is more dramatic.

It reverses an upward spiral that saw more than 52,000 new students enrolled as recently as 2004.

Schools are feeling the same pressures as the rest of Florida's economy, which has been hit by tumbling housing and construction markets, a series of hurricanes in 2004-05 and rapidly rising insurance expenses.

"When you have so many people leaving Florida or not moving here there is an impact," said Bill Montford, head of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

Montford said that the enrollment decline has not been uniform. Some districts are still seeing growth, although it may be slower than in past years.

What has school officials most worried, though, is that state funding is based on enrollment. Fewer students will mean fewer dollars.

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