Reports from the Georgia Department of Education indicate that Hardaway High School registered 697 African American students in the 2024-25 school year, a decrease of 0.3% from the prior year.
Data revealed the school’s total enrollment reached 1,041 for the 2024-25 school year. African American students represented 67% of this total, remaining the largest demographic at Hardaway High.
Located in the Muscogee County School District, the school has its central office in Columbus.
Of the 51 schools within Muscogee County School District, Carver High School had the highest number of African American students for the 2024-25 year, enrolling 734 students.
Georgia’s public school system enrolled over 1.7 million students, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s Fiscal Year 2026-1 report. Enrollment was largest in elementary grades with 787,206 students (45.9%), followed by 388,733 (22.7%) in middle schools, and 539,092 (31.4%) in high schools.
Georgia schools have continued to struggle with chronic absenteeism post-pandemic, with 20.7% of students missing at least 10% of school days in 2024, according to the Georgia Department of Education. In an effort to address this, the Georgia Department of Education launched statewide efforts including a real-time attendance dashboard, a public awareness initiative, and specific assistance for high-need districts to improve attendance rates.
In 2025, Georgia passed updated school attendance legislation preventing expulsions based solely on absenteeism. The law added new rules for reporting absences and strengthened programs that support students completing graduation through alternative means.
By 2026, Georgia’s average student-to-teacher ratio stood at about 14:1, outperforming the national average of 15:1.
| School Year | Total Enrollment | Total African American students | % of African American students |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 1,673 | 920 | 55% |
| 2011-12 | 1,699 | 951 | 56% |
| 2012-13 | 1,529 | 825 | 54% |
| 2013-14 | 1,422 | 782 | 55% |
| 2014-15 | 1,315 | 749 | 57% |
| 2015-16 | 1,258 | 754 | 60% |
| 2016-17 | 1,267 | 798 | 63% |
| 2017-18 | 1,271 | 826 | 65% |
| 2018-19 | 1,190 | 761 | 64% |
| 2019-20 | 1,146 | 721 | 63% |
| 2020-21 | 1,118 | 693 | 62% |
| 2021-22 | 1,162 | 743 | 64% |
| 2022-23 | 1,149 | 746 | 65% |
| 2023-24 | 1,076 | 699 | 65% |
| 2024-25 | 1,041 | 697 | 67% |
