Broward County Public Schools Statistics 2026: Enrollment, Schools & Charts
Broward County Public Schools reported 223,890 students in its August 21, 2026 Tenth Day enrollment count, including District and charter schools. The same-day count was 236,548 one year earlier, a decrease of 12,658 students or 5.35%.
For the 2026/27 school year, BCPS reports 315 schools, centers, colleges, contract-agency schools and charter schools. The reported network consists of 233 non-charter categories and 82 charter schools.
Broward Enrollment and School Network
Current-year enrollment uses the official August 21, 2026 Tenth Day count. School totals use the district's 2026/27 school inventory.
Enrollment Declined Across Most School Levels
The comparison uses Tenth Day counts in both school years, avoiding a mix of First Day and Benchmark Day reporting periods.
2025/26 vs 2026/27 Tenth Day Enrollment
Enrollment by school level, with charter schools shown separately
Pre-K was nearly unchanged, while K–5 recorded the largest decrease in student count. Charter schools are a governance category rather than a grade-level category.
Where the decline is concentrated
- K–5 enrollment fell by 4,779 students, from 75,310 to 70,531, the largest absolute decrease among the reported school levels.
- Centers recorded the largest percentage decrease at 11.72%, but the change involved 397 students because the category has a much smaller enrollment base.
- Pre-K increased by 18 students, making it the only reported level with a positive year-over-year change.
2025/26 and 2026/27 Tenth Day Enrollment by Level
The table reproduces the complete districtwide level comparison reported in the August 21, 2026 enrollment memorandum and adds calculated percentage changes.
| Level | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 5,060 | 5,078 | +18 | +0.36% |
| K–5 | 75,310 | 70,531 | −4,779 | −6.35% |
| Grades 6–8 | 38,671 | 36,690 | −1,981 | −5.12% |
| Grades 9–12 | 65,573 | 62,002 | −3,571 | −5.45% |
| Centers | 3,388 | 2,991 | −397 | −11.72% |
| District subtotal | 188,002 | 177,292 | −10,710 | −5.70% |
| Charter schools | 48,546 | 46,598 | −1,948 | −4.01% |
| District + charter total | 236,548 | 223,890 | −12,658 | −5.35% |
District and charter movement
- The non-charter District subtotal decreased by 5.70%, compared with a 4.01% decline in charter enrollment.
- Because charter enrollment declined more slowly, its share of combined Tenth Day enrollment moved from about 20.52% to 20.81%. The change in share does not establish movement of individual students between sectors.
Why Broward Enrollment Totals Differ Across Reports
BCPS publishes several enrollment snapshots during a school year. The measurement date determines which number is appropriate for a comparison.
First Day 2026/27
Registered enrollment on August 10, 2026. District schools and centers accounted for 180,149 students and charter schools for 46,441.
Tenth Day 2026/27
The August 21 snapshot is 2,700 students, or 1.19%, below the First Day count. The difference is between two enrollment snapshots and is not a student-attrition measure.
Benchmark 2025/26
The latest completed annual Benchmark Day value in the historical series. Benchmark counts are used for the like-for-like long-run trend below.
Benchmark Enrollment Has Fallen from the 2017/18 Peak
The historical chart uses Benchmark Day enrollment only. The 2026/27 Tenth Day value is kept outside the line so that different reporting periods are not treated as the same annual measure.
Broward Benchmark Enrollment, 2016/17–2025/26
District and charter enrollment combined
Benchmark enrollment reached 271,517 in 2017/18 and measured 236,667 in 2025/26.
Long-run enrollment movement
- The 2025/26 Benchmark Day count was 34,850 students below the 2017/18 peak, a decline of about 12.84%.
- From 2024/25 to 2025/26 alone, Benchmark enrollment decreased by 10,834 students, or about 4.38%.
- The series moved from 271,105 in 2016/17 to 236,667 in 2025/26, a net change of −34,438 students.
| School year | Pre-K | K–5 | 6–8 | 9–12 | Centers | Charter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016/17 | 5,731 | 97,264 | 47,147 | 70,404 | 5,194 | 45,365 | 271,105 |
| 2017/18 | 5,939 | 96,374 | 48,335 | 70,686 | 5,090 | 45,093 | 271,517 |
| 2018/19 | 6,158 | 94,864 | 48,804 | 70,358 | 4,447 | 45,919 | 270,550 |
| 2019/20 | 5,714 | 92,473 | 48,781 | 69,841 | 4,457 | 46,704 | 267,970 |
| 2020/21 | 5,061 | 86,141 | 47,309 | 69,983 | 4,103 | 48,208 | 260,715 |
| 2021/22 | 4,771 | 84,111 | 45,691 | 69,959 | 3,443 | 48,046 | 256,021 |
| 2022/23 | 5,353 | 83,280 | 43,655 | 68,708 | 3,725 | 49,663 | 254,384 |
| 2023/24 | 5,794 | 81,731 | 42,242 | 67,914 | 3,592 | 49,833 | 251,106 |
| 2024/25 | 5,554 | 80,319 | 40,527 | 67,583 | 3,851 | 49,677 | 247,501 |
| 2025/26 | 5,244 | 75,437 | 38,416 | 65,269 | 3,481 | 48,820 | 236,667 |
Broward Reports 315 School Sites and Related Education Facilities
The district's 2026/27 inventory separates conventional school levels from centers, adult-enrolled colleges, contract categories and charter schools.
| School category | 2026/27 count |
|---|---|
| Elementary | 128 |
| Middle | 34 |
| High | 31 |
| Combination | 14 |
| Centers | 15 |
| Colleges — Adult Enrolled | 3 |
| Contract Credit Recovery High School | 1 |
| ESE Contract Agency Schools | 7 |
| BCPS-reported non-charter subtotal | 233 |
| Charter Schools | 82 |
| Total reported sites | 315 |
School-count comparability
- The historical 2025/26 inventory reported 322 total schools, compared with 315 in the 2026/27 inventory.
- The 2026/27 presentation separately lists three adult-enrolled colleges. Category structure therefore differs from the prior-year historical display, so the seven-site difference should not be interpreted automatically as seven school closures.
Charter Share of School Sites vs Enrollment
2026/27 reported school inventory compared with the August 21 Tenth Day student count
Charter schools account for about 26.0% of the reported 315 school sites and 20.8% of Tenth Day enrollment. School size and grade configuration vary, so the two shares are not interchangeable.
BCPS's 2026/27 Redefining Our Schools process uses enrollment trends together with academic programs and available resources when reviewing school usage. Enrollment figures alone do not identify which individual schools will be changed, consolidated or repurposed.
Data Sources and Measurement
Enrollment snapshots and school counts are kept on their original reporting bases rather than merged into a single undefined total.
Broward County Public Schools, Demographics & Enrollment Planning Department, August 21, 2026. The report covers Pre-K through grade 12 students in District and charter schools who attended at least one day and had not withdrawn.
Broward County Public Schools, August 10, 2026. The First Day count is used only for opening-day context and is not substituted for the Tenth Day or Benchmark Day series.
Broward County Public Schools Historical Enrollment Counts and 2025/26 Benchmark Day Enrollment Report. The annual trend uses Benchmark Day values from 2016/17 through 2025/26.
Broward County Public Schools reports 233 non-charter school, center, college and contract categories plus 82 charter schools, for a reported total of 315.
Benchmark vs Tenth Day: BCPS identifies Benchmark Day enrollment as its year-to-year statistical benchmark. The historical line therefore stops with the completed 2025/26 Benchmark count. The 2026/27 value is presented separately as a Tenth Day snapshot rather than inserted into that benchmark series.
Student-group coverage: Race, ethnicity, English Language Learner, Exceptional Student Education and free/reduced lunch measures are not included in the current-year tables because the August 21 Tenth Day report does not disaggregate those fields. Older 2025/26 demographic percentages are not relabeled as 2026/27 statistics.
Adult education: The school inventory includes three colleges identified as adult-enrolled institutions, while the 223,890 Tenth Day enrollment figure is the District-and-charter Pre-K–12/center student count. Adult learners should not be added to or assumed to be included in that PK–12 enrollment total.
Calculated values: Percentage changes and charter shares are calculated from the published counts and rounded to two decimal places where needed. A change in sector share describes the composition of the reported totals and does not establish student migration or another causal explanation.