Bleckley Middle School reports 122 African American students for 2024-25

Bleckley Middle School enrolled 122 African American students for the 2024-25 school year, a 3.9% decrease compared with the prior year, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

Data indicated the total enrollment at Bleckley Middle School reached 534 students in 2024-25. African American students represented 23% of those enrolled, making them the school’s second-largest demographic group.

Located in the Bleckley County School District, the central office is based in Cochran.

Bleckley County High School had the largest number of African American students among the district’s five schools for 2024-25, with 159 students reported.

The Georgia Department of Education’s Fiscal Year 2026-1 report reported over 1.7 million students in the state’s public schools. The most students were enrolled in elementary grades, with 787,206 (45.9%), followed by 388,733 in middle schools (22.7%), and 539,092 in high schools (31.4%).

Chronic absenteeism continues to be a significant challenge for Georgia’s schools since the pandemic. In 2024, 20.7% of students missed at least 10% of school days, per the Georgia Department of Education. To address the issue, GaDOE launched a statewide initiative that includes a real-time attendance dashboard, a public awareness campaign, and targeted interventions for districts most at risk to improve daily attendance.

In 2025, Georgia lawmakers enacted new legislation revising school attendance policies to prohibit expulsion solely for absenteeism. The legislation also mandated additional reporting and aligned with programs supporting alternative diploma pathways.

Data from 2026 showed that Georgia’s average student-to-teacher ratio was roughly 14:1, which is lower than the national ratio of 15:1.