Student enrollment was up from the previous year for seven of the 10 school districts in Seminole County in 2024, according to the latest data from the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Wewoka Public Schools saw its enrollment decline by 7.8 percent in 2024 as compared to 2023, Sasakwa reported a 5.7 percent drop and Bowlegs was down 1.6 percent. The 2023 numbers for each district (respectively) were 619, 194 and 258 and in 2024 the enrollment was 571, 183 and 254, respectively.

The Academy of Seminole realized the largest gain with a reported enrollment of 416 in 2024 as compared to 222 the previous year.

Justice Public Schools had the second largest jump, reporting an enrollment of 148, up 11.3 percent over the 133 students enrolled for the 2023 term.

Varnum Public Schools showed the third largest gain with an enrollment of 330, up 6.8 percent over the 309 students enrolled for the 2023 term. Strother’s count was up 6.3 percent in 2024, reporting 371 students. In 2023, the count was 349.

Butner’s student population was up 3.9 percent (212 in 2024 vs. 204 in 2023); Konawa’s 2024 enrollment of 536 students represented an increase of 3.1 percent over the 520 students in 2023, and New Lima was up 2.7 percent (264/257).

Seminole Public Schools had the lowest gain, reporting an enrollment of 1,401 in 2024, up 0.5 percent over 2023 when the enrollment totaled 1,394.

Maud Public Schools, which is listed as a Pottawatomie County School District, was down 20.3 percent, with a 2024 student count of 220 compared to 276 in 2023.

Statewide, there were 697,358 students counted on Oct. 1, 2024, according to the Oklahoma Department of Education. That’s down 0.25% from 2023, and 0.9% lower than the all-time high of 703,650 set in 2019, before Covid-19 disruptions.

Oklahoma subsidized private school tuition for more than 27,000 students in 2024, the first year of the Parental Choice Tax Credit. But there were only 1,744 fewer students enrolled in public schools that fall.

Nationally, public school enrollment is predicted to drop by 2.1 million students between 2020 and 2030, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Enrollment in private schools is also projected to decline by 1.2 million students during the same time frame.

(Jennifer Palmer of Oklahoma Watch contributed to this article).