Oconee County Schools released its official March 6 enrollment report on Friday, showing a decline in enrollments of seven students from the count on Oct. 7 of 2025.
Enrollment on Oct. 7, 2025, had been down by 192 students from Oct. 1 of 2024, and enrollment on March 6 of 2026 was down by 134 students from March 5 of 2025.
Last year, enrollment fell by 65 students from October to March, compared with the drop of only seven students from October to March of this school year.
Of the 8,275 full time equivalent students included in the March 6 count this year, 8,181 were residents of Oconee County. In October, the count of 8,282 students included 8,188 Oconee County students. State funding moves with the student.
In March of this year, the count included 88 nonresident in-state students and six international students.
In October, the count included 89 nonresident in state-students and five international students.
Enrollment grew from October to March by 45 at the system’s six elementary and single primary school, was down by four students at the system’s three middle schools, and was down by 48 students at the high school level, as students complete their studies.
Each of Oconee County’s 12 schools remains under capacity, with capacity exceeding enrollment by1,245 at the elementary school level, 1,009 at the middle school level, and at 346 for the system’s two high schools.
Enrollment Trends
Full time equivalent (FTE) enrollment at Oconee County Schools dropped by 192 from October of 2024 to October of 2025, the second year in a row that enrollment declined.
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From October of 2023 to October of 2024, FTEs had dropped by 61, based on the official enrollment figures Oconee County Schools filed with the Georgia Department of Education.
The slight drop in enrollment from October of 2025 to March of 2026 continues that pattern of decline, albeit on a low level. Enrollment at 8,275 is just higher than the 8,224 enrolled in October of 2020.
From Oct. 7 to March 6, enrollment did grow at the system’s elementary schools.
Colham Ferry Elementary School showed the most growth from the October count to the March count, contributing 20 students to the overall growth of 45 students.
Oconee County Primary School had a growth of 11 students, while the linked Oconee County Elementary School had a decline of one student, resulting in a growth for the two schools combined of 10 students.
Dove Creek Middle School had an increase of just two students, and Oconee County Middle School had an increase of three students. This was offset by the loss of nine students at Malcom Bridge Middle School.
The overall loss was four students across the three middle schools.
Both North Oconee High School and Oconee County High Schools lost more than 20 students from October to March, with North Oconee losing 22 students and Oconee County losing 26. The combined loss was 48 students.
From October of 2024 to March of 2025, when system-wide 65 fewer students were enrolled in the March count than in October, the drop in enrollments was a loss of 2 at the elementary school level, a loss of 17 at the middle school level, and a loss of 46 at the high school level.
So the smaller decline in enrollments this school year from October to March (minus seven students), compared with the loss of 65 students from October to March of last school years is the result of growth at the elementary school level as this year progressed and less of a decline at the middle school level.
The data are consistent with an expectation of growth–or at least less of a decline–in enrollments going forward.
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