Sumter County’s student body primarily comprised of white students in 2022-23 school year

The majority of students in Sumter County schools were white in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Of the 9,404 students attending Sumter County schools, 61.1% were white. Hispanic students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 17.9% of Sumter County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common ethnicity in Sumter County, representing 59.7% of the student body.

Wildwood Elementary School had the most even distribution of races among the county schools, including 34.5% white students, 34.4% Black students, 23.1% Hispanic students, and 6.5% multiracial students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county increased by 5.5% when compared to the previous year.

Florida’s choice to stick with in-person classes during the pandemic may have shielded students from significant learning setbacks. A recent Harvard study highlighted that districts heavily reliant on remote learning saw the most significant declines in student achievement amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Interestingly, gaps in math achievement by race and school poverty did not widen in school districts in states such as Texas and Florida and elsewhere that remained largely in-person, said Thomas Kane, professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education.