Panama City Reporter

There were 3,855 Black students enrolled in Bay District Schools in the 2022-23 school year, 7.4% more than the previous year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Data showed that Bay District Schools welcomed 27,324 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 14.1% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the district.

Bay District Schools roughly covers 48 schools within Bay County, and has a main office in Panama City.

Among the 48 schools in Bay District Schools, Rutherford High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 427 students.

In 2022, Florida had more than 2.8 million students enrolled in a total of 4,202 schools. There were 163,558 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 17 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

Private school enrolment increased by more than 51,000 students in the 2021-22 school year, which was a notable rebound after the pandemic. In total, there were 416,084 students enrolled, marking the highest enrollment in private schools reported by the Florida Department of Education in 30 years.

According to WalletHub's analysis, Florida is ranked 9th out of 50 states in terms of its public school quality and safety.

School Year	Total District Enrollment	Total Black Students	Black %
2022-23	27,324	3,855	14.1%
2021-22	26,199	3,589	13.7%
2020-21	25,280	3,384	13.4%
2019-20	25,109	3,298	13.1%
2018-19	28,129	4,330	15.4%
2017-18	28,076	4,221	15%