Orange County Public Schools Lost About 8,000 Students in a Year, and Roughly 5,000 Were Immigrants, District Data Show

Orange County Public Schools has lost about 8,000 students since October 2025, and roughly 5,000 of them were immigrant students, according to district data provided to WKMG News 6. The decline, which has shrunk the district from more than 182,000 students to about 174,000, is driving cuts across the Orlando-area district and is a test of the state's promise to backfill funding lost as immigrant enrollment falls.

The figures exclude charter schools, News 6 reported. A school board member said fear of immigration enforcement is keeping some families away entirely.

Immigrant enrollment by the numbers

The district's count of immigrant students at the start of each school year shows how sharply that population has fallen over two years:

That is a drop of 6,328 immigrant students over the two-year period, with most of it coming this fall. The losses are concentrated in a few communities. Haitian student enrollment fell by about 715 over the past year, and the number of Venezuelan students dropped from more than 4,900 two years ago to about 1,900 now, according to the district data.

Why families are leaving

School Board member Stephanie Vanos told News 6 that some families have moved out of the area, while others may still be living in Central Florida but are afraid to send their children to school. "Families are afraid to be here," she said.

Vanos tied part of the decline to the end of temporary protected status for some immigrant groups, a change that hit Venezuelan and Haitian families especially hard. She said the uncertainty may also discourage new families from moving to the region.

Immigration is not the only factor. District officials have also pointed to Florida's 2023 expansion of its school voucher program to all students, declining birth rates, high housing costs and an aging population. The district has hired a consulting firm to help attract students back, but Vanos said outreach may not do much if families do not feel safe. Such families are probably not going to be persuaded to return "based on outreach from a firm or even door-to-door knocking," she said.

The budget hit

Florida funds school districts largely on enrollment, so every lost student means less state aid. The district's 10-day count this fall showed about 7,672 fewer students than the year before, a bigger drop than the state had projected, WMFE reported in September. The state provides about $9,300 per student, which puts the scale of the loss in the tens of millions of dollars.

The district has responded with a series of cuts:

• An additional $8.5 million in reductions at the central office level, announced in a memo to families in early September.
• The elimination of more than 200 district-level positions, announced in April, along with a 5% reduction in department budgets over two years.
• The closure of six elementary schools and one middle school at the end of the last school year, which moved more than 2,000 students to other campuses.

Superintendent Maria Vazquez said in June that the district was already facing a $40 million shortfall. Rising health insurance costs add to the pressure: the district has said each month without changes to its employee health plan adds about $20 million in costs.

Enrollment losses also reach the classroom. In September, the district said it had identified 212 instructional positions for reassignment as it aligned staffing with actual enrollment, and 98 probationary employees had not yet been placed in new jobs, according to reporting by Spectrum News 13.

Which schools closed

The School Board voted unanimously on March 10, taking each school separately, to close Bonneville, Chickasaw, Eccleston, McCoy, Meadow Woods and Orlo Vista elementary schools and Union Park Middle School. Students were rezoned to nearby schools for the 2026-27 year. District officials estimated the closures would save about $10 million a year.

Vazquez has said she does not expect more closures this year, but Chief Communications Officer Scott Howat told WMFE that consolidation could come up again in future years because enrollment is down across the board, especially in elementary grades. Elementary enrollment, including prekindergarten, fell from 76,215 in 2023 to 68,211 this fall, according to district figures reported by WMFE.

A $7.9 billion budget built on a shrinking base

The School Board approved a nearly $7.9 billion budget for 2026-27 in September, about $500 million more than last year, with the largest share of the increase in capital projects. Within that budget, elementary school funding fell by about $42 million and middle school funding by about $16 million, while high school funding rose about $7 million, WMFE reported. The district is budgeting about $244 million for Family Empowerment Scholarships, about $33 million more than last year, reflecting the growth in voucher use.

The district also plans to borrow up to $250 million in short-term tax anticipation notes to cover cash flow. And in November, Orange County voters will decide whether to renew a special property tax for schools expected to raise about $255.2 million. Vazquez has said losing it would be "catastrophic" for the district.

The state's response

State leaders have acknowledged the link between immigration enforcement and falling enrollment while promising districts will not be left short. In an Oct. 9 interview with WLRN, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said Florida would cover school funding lost as fewer immigrant students enroll. "We'll make sure that the funding is there," he said, adding that "Our prioritization has to be on our citizens." Collins did not explain how the state would make up the money.

Not every state official accepts that immigration is the main driver. Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia has questioned how much immigration has contributed to the decline, suggesting school choice programs play a larger role, and has accused districts of using closures as scare tactics. OCPS has disputed his assessment.

What's next

Orange County is not alone. Broward County opened this school year with about 11,000 fewer students, and Palm Beach County reported about 7,000 fewer, both facing reduced state funding. How the Legislature and the governor's office follow through on Collins's pledge will matter to all of them when lawmakers write the next state budget. In Orange County, the November vote on the school property tax and the district's continuing review of under-enrolled campuses will determine how much deeper the cuts go.