Faced with dropping student enrollment, the School District of Lee County says it is taking a proactive approach to stop the bleed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be parents\u2019 No. 1 choice,\u201d Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin said at a May 12 workshop. \u201cThe way we do that \u2014 it starts with a high-quality school district. We want to be No. 1, but not because of the accolades. When we are the best of the best, we won\u2019t have this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adult, Career, Technical and Alternative Education Associate Superintendent Ed Matthews said the district is ranked eighth out of the Big 10 in terms of total enrollment. Miami-Dade has 232,617 non-charter students and 86,802 charter school students, compared to the district\u2019s 87,107 non-charter students and 13,329 charter school students.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the schools have seen significant loss of students,\u201d he said, adding that Miami-Dade lost 15,288 non-charter students, and School District of Lee County lost 1,946 students from 2024-25 to 2025-26 school year.<\/p>\n
Office of School Choice and Administration Executive Director Clayton Simmons addressed Florida Inventory of School Houses (FISH) numbers. FISH capacity by zone \u2014 actual number of student stations within the building, which is set by law \u2014 is at 94% capacity for the West Zone, 102% capacity in the East Zone and 86% capacity for the South Zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pulled portables out, so you knew what the student stations are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The presentation also highlighted the different areas from which students enroll, and where the students are going \u2014 from another district, out of state, out of the country, from private school, from home school and first-time enrollment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have a little bit of drop in kindergarten that are enrolling in the school district. You\u2019ll notice an increase enrolling from home school. Also seeing an increase that are enrolling to the school district from private school. Students are coming back to us,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest drops in enrollment is for enrollment from out of the country. The enrollment went from 3,369 students in the 2023-24 school year to 475 in the 2025-26 school year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past three years there was an 86% drop. That is a pretty telling mark right there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The top four areas of where students are moving include home education, private schools, a public school in another Florida school district and out of state\/country.<\/p>\n
The leading withdrawal code is from a public school to out of state or country. The number of students who have moved out of Florida this year are 2,442, and of that 1,193 were born outside of the United States.<\/p>\n
The second leading withdrawal is to a public school in another Florida district. The number of students who moved to another district was 1,785 \u2014 630 of whom were born outside of the United States.<\/p>\n
The presentation also highlighted movement from charter schools. From the district to charter were 933 students and those students that moved back to the district include 298 students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat number has decreased over the past three years. We are a choice district,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cWe want them to choose us and decrease that number as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The home education transfers from the district to home education was 938 students, and 437 students from home education to the district during the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat disparity of 501 students is decreasing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For students transferring from the school district to private schools is 1,101 students. Of those 654 students returned from the private school to the district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat number is getting closer together,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n
The district has implemented exit interviews and proactive measures to stabilize the enrollment for the district. He said the exit interview is a task for the student enrollment office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will be very efficient and dedicated to hunting these students down and why they left us,\u201d Simmons said, so they can make adjustments to make a better fit.<\/p>\n
He said they also want to find out why a parent is unhappy and wants to remove their child or children, so the district can work with them to stay.<\/p>\n
School Board Member Vanessa Chaviano said when she looked at home education and private school transfers, she knows the money follows the students. She said the district is losing between $7.5 million and $8.7 million between those two groups of students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis helps us paint a better picture of what is happening and where they are going. Tie in that dollar amount because that is what funds our schools,\u201d Chaviano said, adding that the amount of dollars sitting out there is a significant number.<\/p>\n