There were 15,696 Black students enrolled in St. Lucie County’s only school district in the 2023-24 school year, an 8% increase over the 14,530 Black students in the previous school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.
Data showed that St. Lucie County welcomed a total of 46,987 students at the time. Among them, Black students comprised 33.4% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the county. The most represented ethnicity was Hispanic, accounting for 34.7% of the students (16,325).
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.
According to the National Education Association (NEA), Florida ranks 50th in the U.S. in terms of teacher salaries, only ahead of West Virginia.
| District | No. of Black Students | Total District Enrollment | % of Total Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Lucie County School District | 15,696 | 46,987 | 33.4% |
