Superintendent Jose Dotres said the 13,000-student drop stems from a sharp decline in newly arriving immigrant families, lower kindergarten enrollment due to birth rates and more students transferring to private schools.
While the pandemic-driven surge in private school enrollment has slowed, interest among parents remains high. Public schools may be experiencing its effects.
San Diego County has 30,000 fewer students attending public school than a decade ago, with another 112,000 projected to be lost over the next 20 years. The drivers are falling birth rates, high living costs and weaker migration—not a mass move to private or home schools—raising the prospect of closures.
Orange County Public Schools expects to lose more than 3,000 students next year, largely to charter schools and homeschooling. Statewide, over 155,000 students were enrolled in Florida’s home education programs in 2023–24—a 46% increase in five years.
Over the past decade, enrollment at San Diego County public schools has decline by about five percent. That means there are 27,000 fewer students in local schools. State officials warn the decline will worsen, forcing tough decisions for educators.
You might see Superintendent Jeanne Siegenthaler shoveling snow, serving lunch or helping custodians clean her district's single building during the summer. She's also in charge of social media.
Throughout the past several months the governor and state legislators of Illinois have been working to pass legislation that would allow the Illinois Community colleges to start offering baccalaureate degrees.
