Southwest High enrolls 42 Hispanic students for 2024-25, up 31% over prior year

For the 2024-25 school year, Southwest High School registered 42 Hispanic students, reflecting a 31.3% increase compared to the prior year, according to Georgia Department of Education data.

The school had a total enrollment of 846 students for 2024-25, with Hispanic students accounting for 5% of the population—the second-largest group at the school.

Southwest High is part of the Bibb County School District, which is headquartered in Macon.

Across Bibb County’s 34 schools, Porter Elementary School had the largest Hispanic student enrollment for the 2024-25 term, counting 155 students.

Georgia public schools enrolled more than 1.7 million students, according to the state’s Fiscal Year 2026-1 data. The highest numbers were in elementary grades with 787,206 students (45.9%), followed by high schools with 539,092 students (31.4%) and middle schools reporting 388,733 (22.7%).

The Georgia Department of Education reported that chronic absenteeism remains significant across the state after the pandemic, with 20.7% of students missing 10% or more school days in 2024. In response, GaDOE began a statewide initiative with a real-time attendance dashboard, public outreach, and focused program support for at-risk districts to improve attendance rates.

In 2025, legislation in Georgia revised school attendance statutes to prohibit expulsions based solely on absenteeism. The update adds requirements for data reporting and encourages alternative routes for students pursuing diplomas.

By 2026, Georgia reached an average student-to-teacher ratio of 14:1, compared with the national average of 15:1.