Broward Schools Count More Than 272,000 Students in Official Fall Report

Broward County Public Schools enrolled 272,691 students for the 2004-05 school year, according to the district's 20-day count released this week. The figure, taken on the 20th day of classes, locks in the district's funding allocations for the year and confirms Broward's position as one of the largest public school systems in the United States.

The count includes students at all grade levels and all campus types — neighborhood elementary and middle schools, comprehensive high schools, magnet programs, charter schools authorized by the district, alternative-education centers, exceptional-education facilities and the district's adult and technical-education campuses. The total has grown from prior years and continues a multi-year trend tied to population expansion in central and west Broward.

District-wide, the report places Broward sixth in the country by enrolled students, behind only the New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade and Clark County (Las Vegas) systems. The district operates more than 230 schools across the county and runs one of the largest yellow-bus transportation operations of any U.S. school system, with daily ridership in the six figures. Food-service operations serve more meals each school day than most regional restaurant chains.

At the campus level, the count produces familiar pressure on the comprehensive high schools that draw from the fastest-growing residential zones. Several west Broward high schools now report enrollments above 2,400 students, including Piper in Sunrise. The district's capital plan continues to add new schools and expand existing ones, with several projects in design or under construction this year.

Growth across Broward continues to be concentrated west of the older urban core. Cities including Weston, Pembroke Pines, Miramar and Coral Springs have driven much of the new residential construction, with school-age populations following the housing starts. Sunrise, Plantation and Lauderhill, in the central portion of the county, continue to absorb their share of the increase as well. The 272,691 figure feeds into the district's state-funding calculation under the Florida Education Finance Program and into the planning conversations around boundary adjustments and capacity additions for the 2005-06 cycle.