Okeechobee Times

There were 2,032 Black students enrolled in Highlands County's only school district in the 2023-24 school year, a 1% increase over the 2,011 Black 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, Black students comprised 16.7% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the county. The most represented ethnicity was white, accounting for 38.6% of the students (4,699), followed by Hispanic students who made up 38.4% of the student population (4,673).

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 Black Students	Total District Enrollment	% of Total Enrollment
Highlands County School District	2,032	12,175	16.7%