White students made up 56.4% of Hernando County schools enrollment in 2023-24 school year

Manny Diaz, Jr. Commissioner of education at Florida Department of Education | https://www.flbog.edu/member/21325/

By Hernando Reporter

Feb 19, 2025

There were 13,542 white students enrolled in Hernando County schools in the 2023-24 school year, a 3.2% decrease from the 13,985 white students in the previous school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Data showed that Hernando County welcomed a total of 24,006 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, white students comprised 56.4% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 29 schools in Hernando County, Winding Waters K-8 recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 1,123 students, making up 68.6% of the school's total student body.

Gov. DeSantis has approved an education budget of over $28 billion for the 2024-25 school year. The new budget includes more than $1 billion earmarked exclusively for teacher salaries to better address the teacher shortage the state faces.

A 2024 WalletHub study ranked Florida 49th in the nation for teacher salaries when adjusted for cost of living, making it one of the lowest in the U.S.

Ethnicities in Hernando County in 2023-24 School Year

Enrollment in Hernando County Schools During 2023-24 School Year

School name	% of white Students Enrolment	Total Enrollment
Frank W. Springstead High School	54%	1,893
Winding Waters K-8	68.6%	1,638
Explorer K-8	46.2%	1,578
Challenger K-8 School of Science and Math	65.6%	1,467
Central High School	48.8%	1,452
Weeki Wachee High School	63.8%	1,402
Nature Coast Technical High School	57.7%	1,346
Hernando High School	61.6%	1,270
Powell Middle School	51.3%	1,061
Pine Grove Elementary School	57.6%	1,032
John D. Floyd Elementary School	47.3%	955
Suncoast Elementary School	52.3%	921
Spring Hill Elementary School	49.9%	893
Deltona Elementary School	52.3%	855
Fox Chapel Middle School	50.8%	779
Chocachatti Elementary School	61.5%	775
Eastside Elementary School	57.3%	743
D. S. Parrott Middle School	61.3%	728
Brooksville Elementary School	63.1%	672
Moton Elementary School	47.4%	671
West Hernando Middle School	51.3%	645
Westside Elementary School	61.9%	535
Gulf Coast Academy of Science and Technology	67.7%	217
Endeavor Academy	50.3%	185
Gulf Coast Elementary School	64.3%	112
Brooksville Engineering Science and Technology (B.E.S.T.) a	62.9%	97
Hernando Eschool Virtual Franchise	64.4%	59
Pace Center for Girls	68%	25