Fla. Private Schools Take a Hit

Mike Vogel | 8/1/2009

Private school enrollment is off 15.7% from its high. Meanwhile, charter and home school enrollments are setting records.

Private school enrollment in Florida has fallen faster and further than public school enrollment. Though the numbers began dropping before the economy did, the recession and slowing in-migration from elsewhere in the United States receive most of the blame for the 4.2% dip last year and 15.7% drop since private enrollment peaked in 2003. But the rise of charter schools, which offer some of the advantages of private schools ? — smaller enrollments, local board governance, uniforms, parental involvement and mandatory parent “volunteer” hours — for free also is playing a role.

“$12,000 (in yearly tuition) versus zero is a pretty competitive edge,” says Skardon C. Bliss, executive director of the Florida Council of Independent Schools.

The private school enrollment drop likely will continue this year. Seven Catholic elementary schools, 12% of the total in the three-county Archdiocese of Miami, closed in June, affecting 998 students. A charter school operator, Miami-based Academica, leased six of the seven schools to run its academies; a separate charter school leased the seventh parochial school. Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta says information is incomplete on how many of the students affected switched to another Catholic school, enrolled in the charter schools or moved to a traditional public school.

Enrollment Shifts
Year	Public Schools	Charter Schools	Private Schools	Home Schools
1999-00	2,380,451	16,120	288,248	37,196
2000-01	2,434,403	25,989	348,736	41,128
2001-02	2,500,161	40,465	354,541	44,460
2002-03	2,539,932	53,016	377,701	45,333
2003-04	2,598,231	67,512	381,346	47,151
2004-05	2,638,127	82,531	366,742	51,110
2005-06	2,668,337	92,214	350,287	52,613
2006-07	2,662,701	98,755	349,059	55,822
2007-08	2,653,377	105,239	335,211	56,650
2008-09	2,628,754	117,602	321,298	60,913

Catholic school enrollment has fallen nearly 9% from its peak in 2005-06. James Herzog, Florida Catholic Conference associate director for education, says recent annual declines in Catholic school enrollment track the drop in public school enrollment and likely will fall 2% to 3% this year.

Private schools are working to market their strengths better, and leaders are encouraged by government programs that make it more financially feasible for parents of economically disadvantaged and disabled kids to attend private schools, Herzog says. Enrollment will rebound when Florida population growth resumes at its historical pace, he says.

Bliss, whose group represents 154 schools totaling 74,000 students, including elites such as Pine Crest in Fort Lauderdale, Bolles in Jacksonville and Gulliver in Miami, says enrollment at his member schools is down 4% in the last couple of years but that may be attributable to two Christian schools dropping membership rather than to a broad-based decline.

School districts in Florida above the state average of 10.9% private school enrollment:
Jefferson	27.5%
Duval	18.3%
Leon	14.7%
Miami-Dade	14.7%
Bradford	13.5%
Pinellas	13.4%
Orange	13.1%
Broward	12.9%
Martin	12.8%
St. Lucie	12.6%
Escambia	12.2%
Alachua	11.9%
Palm Beach	11.8%
Brevard	11.4%
St. Johns	11.2%

He said member schools were worried in the spring about enrollment falling but as of April reported that 70% of students had re-enrolled. The concern now is whether families will be able to pay tuition should a family member lose a job.

While the decline in private enrollment statewide is noticeable, it only takes enrollment to the low end of historic bounds. The percentage of children in private schools has ranged from 10% to 13% in Florida’s recent past.

Tags: Around Florida, Education