Bay, FL - District Data

Original Research by School Decision on Bay

Bay County School District serves the Florida Panhandle, running from Panama City and Panama City Beach inland through communities like Lynn Haven, Callaway, Youngstown, and more rural pockets stretching toward Fountain and Vernon. It is a large district by Florida standards, enrolling tens of thousands of students across prekindergarten through twelfth grade.

The school roster reflects genuine variety. Alongside traditional elementary, middle, and high schools, families will find multiple charter options under the Bay Haven and North Bay Haven umbrellas, a career academy, virtual instruction programs, a Montessori-style option, specialized programs for exceptional students, and alternative settings including a juvenile detention center school. That breadth means a parent willing to explore has real choices, though individual school profiles vary and are worth examining separately.

On the 2024-25 Florida state assessments, district-wide proficiency in English language arts runs from the lower fifties at third and fifth grade to the low-to-mid sixties at fourth and sixth grade, with seventh and eighth grade sitting in the mid-to-upper fifties. Math proficiency follows a similar pattern, generally in the low-to-mid fifties through mid-sixties depending on grade, with fifth and seventh grade at the lower end of that range and fourth grade at the higher end. Science proficiency at the tested grades sits in the low fifties. Taken together, these results indicate that roughly half to about two-thirds of students reach Florida's proficiency threshold at any given grade and subject. That is a middle-of-the-road picture rather than a standout one; parents whose children may need extra academic support would do well to ask individual schools how they identify and address learning gaps. Multi-year trend data was not available in what we received, so it is not possible to say whether these figures represent improvement, stability, or decline.

Demographically, the district is majority white, with Black and Hispanic students each representing a meaningful share of enrollment, and smaller but present populations of Asian, multiracial, and other students. Free and reduced-price lunch data was not included in the data provided, which leaves out a useful measure of economic need across the district.

The housing market across Bay County spans a wide range. Inland areas like Fountain and Youngstown carry substantially lower home values, while Panama City Beach and Port St. Joe zip codes sit considerably higher, with the district-weighted median somewhere in the low-to-mid three hundreds. Home values across most of the county have been roughly flat or slightly down over the past year, bucking the national trend of modest appreciation, which may reflect post-Hurricane Michael adjustment and the cooling of the beach market after pandemic-era run-ups. Rents are relatively stable with modest year-over-year movement depending on the zip code. Affordability looks reasonable compared to many Florida metros, though the rent-to-income picture is not stress-free at the lower end of the wage scale.

A graduation rate was not available in the data provided. The district brief search turned up no confirmed parent-relevant changes or strategic priorities before the research budget ran out, so that dimension is simply absent here rather than assumed to be quiet.

Because Bay County has only one public school district, the comparison data that would normally position it among peer districts in the county is not meaningful, and no comparative standing is available.

For a family relocating to the Panhandle, the practical choice often comes down to which part of the county they settle in. A household near Panama City Beach is zoned to different schools than one in Callaway or deeper inland, and the charter and magnet options add another layer worth mapping before committing to a neighborhood. The academic numbers are honest and unremarkable in aggregate, but individual schools within any large district can vary considerably from the districtwide picture.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

27,675

Grades

PK–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 14%

Black 15%

White 62%

Asian 2%

Two+ 8%

Am. Indian / AK Native 0%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

By economic status

Percent proficient by grade, as reported

Economically disadvantaged

Not disadvantaged

ELA

Gr 3

44%

62%

Gr 4

54%

66%

Gr 5

43%

58%

Gr 6

51%

67%

Gr 7

45%

66%

Gr 8

43%

64%

Math

Gr 3

50%

69%

Gr 4

58%

71%

Gr 5

42%

60%

Gr 6

48%

69%

Gr 7

43%

57%

Gr 8

49%

67%

Science

Gr 5

45%

61%

Gr 8

41%

62%

Schools in this District

49 schools are officially reported under this district.

BAY HIGH SCHOOL

HUTCHISON BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CEDAR GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CALLAWAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MERRIAM CHERRY STREET ELEMENTARY

LUCILLE MOORE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HILAND PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

JINKS MIDDLE SCHOOL

LYNN HAVEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

PARKER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

SOUTHPORT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ST. ANDREW SCHOOL AT OAKLAND TERRACE

WALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

TOMMY SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MOWAT MIDDLE SCHOOL

RUTHERFORD HIGH SCHOOL

NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

A. CRAWFORD MOSLEY HIGH SCHOOL

TYNDALL ACADEMY

EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION

MARGARET K. LEWIS IN MILLVILLE

MERRITT BROWN MIDDLE SCHOOL

SURFSIDE MIDDLE SCHOOL

PATRONIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

NEW HORIZONS LEARNING CENTER

BAY REGIONAL JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER

BAY HAVEN CHARTER ACADEMY

DEANE BOZEMAN SCHOOL

J.R. ARNOLD HIGH SCHOOL

BAY HAVEN CHARTER MIDDLE SCHOOL

CHAUTAUQUA CHARTER SCHOOL

PALM BAY PREPARATORY ACADEMY 6-12

BREAKFAST POINT ACADEMY

DEER POINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ROSENWALD HIGH SCHOOL

BAY VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION PROGRAM

NORTH BAY HAVEN CHARTER ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL

BAY VIRTUAL FRANCHISE

NORTH BAY HAVEN CHARTER ACADEMY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

NORTH BAY HAVEN CAREER ACADEMY

RISING LEADERS ACADEMY

UNIVERSITY ACADEMY SABL INC

WEST BAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

PALM BAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

BAY VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION PROGRAM (DISTRICT PROVIDED)

AMIKIDS MARITIME ACADEMY

A. GARY WALSINGHAM ACADEMY

OSCAR PATTERSON ACADEMY

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

6 grades reported

59%

Grade 3

65%

Grade 4

51%

Grade 5

60%

Grade 6

50%

Grade 7

58%

Grade 8

English Language Arts

6 grades reported

53%

Grade 3

60%

Grade 4

51%

Grade 5

61%

Grade 6

57%

Grade 7

55%

Grade 8

Science

2 grades reported

53%

Grade 5

52%

Grade 8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$331,464

Year-over-year change-0.3%

Range across 13 ZIP codes$157K to $474K

vs. state typical0.88x

vs. national typical0.90x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (13 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
32404	Panama City	$285K	+0.4%	20.1%
32409		$372K	+1.4%	18.9%
32466	Youngstown	$270K	+0.5%	16.8%
32413	Panama City Beach	$468K	-3.6%	16.1%
32438	Fountain	$157K	+4.2%	6.5%
32456	Port Saint Joe	$474K	-5.1%	2.9%
32405	Panama City	$293K	-0.2%	2.8%
32407	Panama City Beach	$398K	-5.0%	2.2%
32401	Panama City	$214K	-1.5%	1.9%
32444	Lynn Haven	$326K	+0.2%	1.5%
32408	Panama City Beach	$369K	-4.9%	1.3%
32428	Chipley	$227K	-1.4%	0.7%
32462	Vernon	$186K	-2.7%	0.3%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$1,695/mo

Year-over-year change+0.6%

Range across 8 ZIP codes$1,558 to $1,825/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (8 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
32404	Panama City	$1,756	+1.0%	20.1%
32413	Panama City Beach	$1,659	-1.0%	16.1%
32456	Port Saint Joe	$1,558	—	2.9%
32405	Panama City	$1,620	+1.3%	2.8%
32407	Panama City Beach	$1,602	-1.4%	2.2%
32401	Panama City	$1,636	+4.6%	1.9%
32444	Lynn Haven	$1,825	+3.1%	1.5%
32408	Panama City Beach	$1,776	+7.9%	1.3%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$1,673/mo

Home price / national median income4.0x

Annual rent / national median income24.3%

Rent exceeds est. mortgage by$23/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$376,504 (-3.7% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.