Declining enrollment resulting in more school closures across the nation

The DeKalb County School District’s plan to close more than two dozen schools in a few years due, in part, to declining enrollment is far from unique.

It’s happened in the Atlanta school district and in other school districts from coast to coast.

Many states, including Georgia, largely fund public school districts based on enrollment. In Georgia, public school enrollment declined last fall statewide by nearly 30,000 students; over the past 10 years, it’s gone down by nearly 3%.

Why is public school enrollment declining? Experts say it’s partly because of declining birth rates nationwide, which means fewer children in school. Also, more parents are putting their children in private school or homeschooling them.

Here are some examples of school districts that have proposed or approved plans to shutter some schools to cut costs and restructure resources:

Broward County, Florida: The school board voted in January to close six schools. The district has lost more than 40,000 students in the past 10 years, nearly a 17% decline, according to news accounts.

Cleveland: The Ohio school district decided in December to close or merge 29 schools. Enrollment has dropped by about 50% over the past two decades, from 70,000 in 2004 to 34,000 in 2025, according to a report by K-12 Dive.