District Factoids

Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the sixth largest public school system in the nation and the largest fully accredited school system in the country.

The District serves over 150,000 adult and continuing education students.

Students are required to attend school for 180 days per school year. While most of our schools are on a calendar that runs approximately from the end of August until the following June, we have six schools on a modified (year-round) calendar. Students at Hallandale, Colbert, Watkins and Lake Forest elementary schools and McNicol and Gulfstream middle schools attend 180 days as is required, but they are spread out across the entire year with smaller breaks/vacations than the "traditional" school calendar.

Students who attend Broward County Public Schools are from 178 countries and represent 53 language groups.

During the 2010/11 school year, there were 24,951 students identified as English Language Learners (ELL).

BCPS is second in nation, and leads the state of Florida in the number of National Board Certified Teachers. In 2010, the District added 53 more National Board Certified Teachers, bringing its total to 1,781. Prior to 2010, Broward led the nation for five consecutive years.

The average experience of a Broward school teacher is 16 years.

The percentage of Broward teachers who have earned an advanced degree (Master’s, PhDs) is 49 percent.

Nine World languages are taught in Broward County Public Schools: American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Spanish, and Spanish for Spanish speakers.
The District offers a full range of Magnet school programs, from arts and drama to science and technology, to meet the needs and talents of students.
The District’s Innovative Schools provide students unique or thematic instruction.  Students attending Innovative Schools receive extra experience and exposure in a particular theme.

To better prepare students academically and technologically for college or the workforce, BCPS offers career awareness and exploration programs beginning in middle school and continuing through high school.

A multitude of programs, courses and activities are offered through the Broward’s Career, Technical, Adult and Community Education (CTACE) department including Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, General Educational Development (GED), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Family/Intergenerational Literacy, Vocational Preparatory Instruction and programs for Adults with Disabilities.

Community education course offerings include academic, recreational, health, cultural, artistic, social science and parenting preparation programs.

Broward Technical Centers (Atlantic, McFatter and Sheridan), not only meet the career interests of students, but also fulfill the needs of local employers for well-qualified, highly skilled workers. They have state-of-the art equipment and facilities in which highly trained staff members offer industry-validated educational programs.  E-learning opportunities are also available to meet the needs of students. The District’s industry partners have honored many career and technical education programs with national awards of excellence.

Approximately 21,000 PreK-8th grade students participated in the before and after school child care programs during the 2009/2010 school year.  Programs offer snacks, academics, access to technology, indoor and outdoor play, drama and much more.  Children must be registered in the program and a registration fee is required. The registration fee must be paid each time the child registers or re-registers in a program.  Families who qualify for free or reduced meals, may apply for scholarships.  Scholarships are limited and may not always be available.

As of October 2011, 61 percent of schools completed the year-end summary reporting 2,720 partnerships that provided 4,201 volunteers who donated 57,418 hours of volunteer time.  The total cash and in-kind donations, including the value of volunteer time, amounted to $3.14 million.

During the 2010/11 school year, 42,350 adult volunteers donated a total of 664,548 hours.  That translates to $14,194,745 in services and support. These figures do not include the thousands of hours parents/community volunteers donate outside of schools  (e.g. athletic events, field trips competitions). It also does not include high school students who mentor or tutor at their own schools or other schools.

BCPS has an award winning environmental website (www.BrowardSchoolsGoGreen) which showcases the District’s efforts to “go green” and serves as an educational tool for students, staff and the community.


The total number of classrooms in the District is 13,750. The total permanent and relocatable space used by Broward County Public Schools, including schools, centers and administrative space is nearly 38 million square feet.
The District has 1,039 buses on daily routes, transporting more than 84,000 students to and from school every day.

During the school day, our school buses drive more than 74,000 miles. Every year, the total miles driven, including summer school and extracurricular trips, is about 15 million miles!
Since 2001, new buses purchased have been equipped with lap belts. Also, since 2002, new buses purchased are equipped with air conditioning. The District’s newest buses also have GPS navigation systems.
During the 2010/11 school year the District’s Food and Nutrition Services Department served more than 32.9 million meals including 8.3 million breakfasts, 24.6 million lunches and 1.3 million snacks.

Some of the favorite meals enjoyed by Broward's students are chicken nuggets, chicken teriyaki, pizza, tacos, assorted entree salads and yogurt meals.

During the 2010/11 school year the district served approximately:
Chicken Nuggets: 2 million servings
Pizza: 3.4 million servings
Tacos: 1.4 million servings
Assorted entree salads: 900,000
Yogurt meals: 1 million
Milk: over 24 million cartons
Assorted juice (100% pure juice) 10 million pouches
Assorted cereal bowls: 3 million

Student meals include a variety of fresh produce including:
Apples: 4 million
Bananas: 2.5 million
Citrus (oranges/tangerines): 2 million
Lettuce: 500,000 pounds
Tomatoes: 225,000 pounds