Sumter Times

The only school district in Sumter County experienced an increase in student numbers, growing by 5.5% and welcoming 9,404 students during the 2022-23 academic year, as reported by the Florida Department of Education.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 61.1% of Sumter County School District’s total enrollment.

Sumter County School District has a main office in Bushnell and is the only school district within Sumter County.

In 2022, Florida had more than 2,8 million students enrolled in a total of 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 enrolment 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 9th out of 50 states in terms of its public school quality and safety.

School	Total Enrollment in 2022-23	Total Enrollment in 2021-22	Total % Change
Villages Charter School	3,473	3,346	3.8%
South Sumter High School	1,045	991	5.4%
Wildwood Elementary School	940	845	11.2%
South Sumter Middle School	897	827	8.5%
Wildwood Middle/ High School	843	842	0.1%
Bushnell Elementary School	760	722	5.3%
Webster Elementary School	748	643	16.3%
Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School	584	572	2.1%
Sumter Prep Academy	94	99	-5.1%
Sumter County Virtual Instruction Program	12	12	0%