School Enrollment by Race and Gender
Between the 2009-2010 and 2025-2026 school years, enrollment in Barnstable County public schools declined by nearly 20%. This downward trend was most pronounced between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, which overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the student population has grown more racially diverse, with data for the 2025-2026 school year suggesting non-white students account for nearly 33% of enrollment, compared to about 13% in the 2009-2010 school year. Despite this shift, Barnstable County remains less racially diverse than Massachusetts as a whole, where non-white students account for nearly half of enrolled students.
