SW Georgia News

There were 4,166 students enrolled in Decatur County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 7.4% less than the previous year, according to reports from the Georgia Department of Education.

Boys made up 51.2% of the county's student body, while the other 48.8% were girls.

Data also showed that African American students made up 49.1% of the student body, the largest percentage in Decatur County schools, followed by white students with 35.9%, 11.1% Hispanic students, 3.2% multiracial students and 0.7% Asian students.

Bainbridge High School stood out with the highest enrollment among Decatur County's seven schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 1,205 students.

While enrollment in Georgia inches closer to pre-pandemic levels, chronic absenteeism remains a serious challenge. In 2023, a significant portion of students (23%) missed 10% or more of their classes. Although this is slightly better than the peak of 25% in 2022, it's still nearly double the pre-pandemic rate of 13% recorded in 2019.

School name	Total enrollment in 2021-22	Total enrollment in 2022-23	% change
Bainbridge High School	1,291	1,205	-6.7%
Hutto Elementary School	849	785	-7.5%
Bainbridge Middle School	898	600	-33.2%
Jones-Wheat Primary School	538	545	1.3%
West Bainbridge Primary School	384	408	6.3%
Spring Creek Charter Academy	375	403	7.5%
New Beginning Learning Center	162	220	35.8%