African American student enrollment jumps to 220 at Elbert County Elementary School for 2024-25

In the 2024-25 school year, Elbert County Elementary School enrolled 220 African American students, marking a 52.8% increase compared to the prior year, as reported by the Georgia Department of Education.

According to the data, total student enrollment reached 648, with African American students accounting for 34% of the student population—the second-largest group represented at the school.

The school operates in the Elbert County School District, which has a central administrative office in Elberton.

Elbert County High School reported the largest enrollment of African American students within the district, totaling 343 for the 2024-25 school year.

Statewide, Georgia’s public schools enrolled more than 1.7 million students, as stated in the Georgia Department of Education’s Fiscal Year 2026-1 report. Elementary grades had the highest enrollment at 787,206 students (45.9%), followed by high school with 539,092 students (31.4%), and middle school at 388,733 students (22.7%).

The Georgia Department of Education notes that chronic absenteeism remains a significant post-pandemic challenge, with 20.7% of students losing 10% or more of school days in 2024. Statewide initiatives now include a real-time attendance dashboard, broader public outreach, and extra support in the highest-need districts to improve daily attendance.

Georgia legislators in 2025 updated school attendance laws to prohibit expulsion for absenteeism alone. This legislation, which adds new reporting guidelines and aligns diploma-earning alternatives, was passed the same year.

By 2026, Georgia’s student-to-teacher ratio averaged about 14:1, which remains below the national average of 15:1.