The numbers are in. Which Palm Beach County schools are the most crowded in 2023?

After counting the number of students in schools across Palm Beach County, district leaders now know whether public school enrollment has rebounded following the COVID-19 pandemic and whether a new school delivered on its promise to relieve crowding.

The total number of students in public schools grew modestly this year — up 682 from last year, according to enrollment data released Monday by the school district.

Although that's nearly double the growth of 2022, public schools are nowhere near making up for the 6,100 students who left after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Since the start of the 2022 school year, enrollment has grown by 1,428 students. The data don't show whether those are students who left during COVID or are simply newcomers to the area.

But this year's slight growth is a positive sign for school leaders, who were deeply concerned about the impact of a newly expanded voucher program, which allows students to use state dollars to attend private schools. Overall, the program has "fundamentally changed" the education and budgeting systems in Florida public schools, district Chief Financial Officer Heather Frederick said in August.

This year's enrollment data doesn't show how many students used vouchers, but it does show that the number of students in schools (including virtual and charter schools) fell short of the district's projection by 526 students.

This year's full-time enrollment counts were collected on Oct. 13. Elementary school enrollment exceeded the district's projection by 805 students, but there were also 706 fewer charter school students than the district projected.

Here's what to know:

Which Palm Beach County schools are over capacity?

Seven elementary, two middle and nine high schools are at full capacity or have more students than the campuses can hold.

Here are the elementary schools with enrollment rates at or above 100%:

• The Conservatory School, North Palm Beach: 124%. Campus uses temporary leased classrooms

• Meadow Park, West Palm Beach: 118%, capacity includes part-time pre-K students

• Golden Grove, West Palm Beach: 107%

• Palm Springs, Lake Worth Beach: 106%

• Addison Mizner K-8 School, Boca Raton: 101%

• Binks Forest, Wellington: 100%

• Whispering Pines, Boca Raton: 100%

Here are the middle schools with enrollment rates at or above 100%:

• Western Pines, West Palm Beach: 102%

• Don Estridge High Tech Middle, Boca Raton: 101%

Here are the high schools with enrollment rates at or above 100%:

• Forest Hill, West Palm Beach: 115%

• Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach: 112%

• Spanish River, Boca Raton: 107%

• John I. Leonard, Greenacres: 105%

• Palm Beach Central, Wellington: 104%

• Olympic Heights, Boca Raton: 103%

• Wellington High School, Wellington: 102%

• Palm Beach Lakes, West Palm Beach: 100%

• Santaluces, Lantana: 100%

Did Dr. García High solve the crowding problem?

Palm Beach County's first new high school since 2005 opened this year west of Lake Worth Beach.

Dr. Joaquín García High School, designed to fight crowding at high schools in the county's midsection, pulled students directly from Palm Beach Central, John I. Leonard, Santaluces and Park Vista. The district then shuffled students from the surrounding schools to fill the gaps left by students who went to Dr. García.

Overall, it worked. Four of the high schools surrounding Dr. García saw a decrease in enrollment, and one was brought below 100% capacity.

Here are the neighboring schools and their enrollment rates:

• Palm Beach Central: From 109% of capacity to 104%

• John I. Leonard: From 114% to 105%

• Santaluces: From 104% to 100%

• Park Vista: From 101% to 93%

Only one school that bordered Dr. García, Wellington High, saw an increase in crowding — from 99% last year to 102% this year. After heavy input from parents and elected officials who supported Wellington students staying at schools within the village's limits, no students from Wellington High moved directly to Dr. García.

Due to the shifting of students to the west, the opening of Dr. García also affected the county's most crowded high school, Forest Hill. The school saw a drop in students that brought its enrollment rate down from 131% capacity last year to 115% this year.

When did Palm Beach County schools grow the most?

While the number of new students in Palm Beach County schools doubled this year over last, neither growth rate, both under 0.5%, rival the years of biggest growth in schoolchildren from 2010 to 2018.

More than 1,100 new students per year started attending public schools in each of those eight years.

The largest growth occurred in 2014 and 2015, when more than 3,200 new students started, for an annual growth rate of nearly 2%.

Now, the school district counts 187,693 students in all of its K-12 schools, including charter school students.

That's about equal with the district's enrollment numbers from 2017, when188,778 students across Palm Beach County attended public schools.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Crowding, school sizes at Palm Beach County public schools in 2023