Education
As county grows, enrollments decline
Waccamaw Elementary is the only area public school that is expected to see an increase in enrollment in the next school year.
In fact, the Georgetown County School Board has included funding for a teacher and a paraprofessional for a new pre-K class at the school as part of the budget for fiscal 2025, which is due to receive final approval in June.
The school district’s enrollment is expected to continue its decades-long decline. While the county population grew 5 percent in the last census, the public school enrollment has decreased 15 percent since 2010.
According to the projected enrollment figures, there will be 514 students at Waccamaw Elementary when the new year starts in August.
Although the elementary school’s population has grown steadily in the last three years from 433 in 2021, to 470 in 2022-23 to 487 this year, it has been in decline since 672 students filled its classrooms in 2010-11.
The district lists the building’s capacity at 3,247, but officials say that merely reflects the number of people who could fit in the 113,644-square-foot building. There were 1,200 students on campus before Waccamaw Intermediate opened in 2008. Some of those were in portable classrooms.
Waccamaw Intermediate had an increase in enrollment of nine students from 2021-22 to this year, but the school is expected to drop by 53 students next year to 382.
The school’s peak enrollment was 614 students in 2012-13.
After an increase in students from 2021-22 to 2022-23, the enrollment at Waccamaw High and Waccamaw Middle continues to decline.
The number of Waccamaw High students this year is 27 less than in 2023, which was 10 less than 2022.
The high school had 851 students in 2022-23, which was the most since 2018-19.
The number of middle school students this year is 22 less than in 2023, which was 11 less than 2022. Its enrollment has declined by more than 100 students in the last 10 years.
The decline in enrollment is expected to continue at the middle and high schools in 2024-25
The district’s overall 135-day enrollment was 7,988, a decline of 91 students from 2022-23.
The five schools in the Georgetown area still have the largest current enrollment with 2,864. At 2,095, Waccamaw’s four public schools have the second highest number of students.
Although the district factors the number of students at Coastal Montessori Charter School into its overall enrollment, it does not include them into the Waccamaw area enrollment.
The 135-day enrollment at the charter school was 235, four more students than in the 2022-23 school year. The enrollment for next year is expected to be 250.
The district expects its overall enrollment to remain steady in the next school year.
Despite the addition of the magnet program in the Carvers Bay area, four of the five schools are projected to decline in enrollment next year: Browns Ferry and Plantersville elementary schools, one less student each; Pleasant Hill Elementary School, 18 fewer students; and Carvers Bay Middle, 15 fewer students.
The high school is projected to increase its enrollment by nine students.
However, enrollment in the Carvers Bay area could change if more students enroll in the magnet program for next year. The application window is closed and the district is expected to finish finalizing the transfers today.
The district currently has 406 teachers, which is six more than its formula says it needs.
Waccamaw Neck schools, excluding the charter school, have 104 teachers, the exact amount they’re supposed to have.
