West Florida News

There were 523 Black students enrolled in DeSoto County schools in the 2022-23 school year, a 0.2% increase from the 522 Black students in the previous school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Data showed that DeSoto County welcomed a total of 4,582 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 11.4% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the nine schools in DeSoto County, Desoto Middle School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 142 students, making up 12.1% of the school's total student body.

In 2022, Florida had more than 2.8 million students enrolled in its 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 enrollment 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 ninth out of 50 states in terms of its public school quality and safety.

School name	% of Black Students Enrolment	Total Enrollment
Desoto County High School	9.6	1,244
Desoto Middle School	12.1	1,169
West Elementary School	8.8	795
Memorial Elementary School	15.3	793
Nocatee Elementary School	2.2	446