Panama City Reporter

The majority of students in Bay County district were white in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Of the 27,324 students attending Bay County district schools, 62.9% were white. Black students were the second largest ethnicity in Bay County district (14.1%).

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Bay County district, representing 62.2% of the student body.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in the county increased by 4.3% when compared to the previous year.

Florida's choice to stick with in-person classes during the pandemic may have shielded students from significant learning setbacks. A recent Harvard study highlighted that districts heavily reliant on remote learning saw the most significant declines in student achievement amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“Interestingly, gaps in math achievement by race and school poverty did not widen in school districts in states such as Texas and Florida and elsewhere that remained largely in-person,” said Thomas Kane, professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

District	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Bay District Schools	White	62.9%	27,324