There were 4,699 white students enrolled in Highlands County’s only school district in the 2023-24 school year, a 4.1% decrease from the 4,901 white students in the previous school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.
Data showed that Highlands County welcomed a total of 12,175 students at the time. Among them, white students comprised 38.6% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county. They were followed by Hispanic students with a count of 4,673 (38.4%), and Black students, totaling 2,032, or 16.7% of the student population.
Gov. DeSantis has approved an education budget of over $28 billion for the 2024-25 school year. The new budget includes more than $1 billion earmarked exclusively for teacher salaries to better address the teacher shortage the state faces.
According to the National Education Association (NEA), Florida ranks 50th in the U.S. in terms of teacher salaries, only ahead of West Virginia.
| District | No. of white Students | Total District Enrollment | % of Total Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands County School District | 4,699 | 12,175 | 38.6% |