West Florida News

There were 10,934 white students enrolled in Charlotte County schools in the 2023-24 school year, a 2.3% decrease from the 11,188 white students in the previous school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Data showed that Charlotte County welcomed a total of 16,858 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, white students comprised 64.9% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 24 schools in Charlotte County, Charlotte High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 1,292 students, making up 65.4% of the school's total student body.

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.

A 2024 WalletHub study ranked Florida 49th in the nation for teacher salaries when adjusted for cost of living, making it one of the lowest in the U.S.

School name	% of white Students Enrolment	Total Enrollment
Charlotte High School	65.4%	1,976
Port Charlotte High School	53.5%	1,659
Lemon Bay High School	79.9%	1,346
Punta Gorda Middle School	70.6%	1,072
Babcock Neighborhood School	77.7%	966
Port Charlotte Middle School	48.8%	884
East Elementary School	76.9%	800
Neil Armstrong Elementary School	49.1%	784
Deep Creek Elementary School	65.4%	767
Liberty Elementary School	57.6%	694
Meadow Park Elementary School	60.5%	669
Sallie Jones Elementary School	65.2%	658
Myakka River Elementary School	79.4%	652
L. A. Ainger Middle School	76.9%	644
Murdock Middle School	53.4%	635
Kingsway Elementary School	55.5%	587
Peace River Elementary School	51.9%	524
Vineland Elementary School	81.9%	502
Florida Southwestern Collegiate High School	66.5%	355
The Academy	64.8%	298
Baker/Head Start	39.4%	165
Charlotte Harbor School	63.6%	140
Charlotte Virtual Franchise	72.8%	81