Emerald Coast Times

The only school district in Walton County experienced an increase in student numbers, growing by 4.6% and welcoming 11,575 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 71.6% of Walton County School District’s total enrollment.

Walton County School District has a main office in Defuniak Springs and is the only school district within Walton 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
South Walton High School	1,235	1,182	4.5%
Freeport Elementary School	1,123	968	16%
Van R. Butler Elementary School	1,013	983	3.1%
Dune Lakes Elementary School	928	916	1.3%
Emerald Coast Middle School	868	840	3.3%
Walton High School	856	794	7.8%
Paxton School	819	807	1.5%
Walton Middle School	801	805	-0.5%
Freeport Middle School	700	647	8.2%
West Defuniak Elementary School	669	695	-3.7%
Freeport Senior High School	557	534	4.3%
Maude Saunders Elementary School	553	503	9.9%
Mossy Head School	439	401	9.5%
Seaside Neighborhood School	403	385	4.7%
Walton Initiative for Success in Education (Wise)	215	192	12%
Walton Academy Inc.	181	190	-4.7%
Bay School	146	129	13.2%
Walton Virtual Franchise	31	47	-34%
Walton Learning Center	29	23	26.1%