District profile / Georgia

Savannah-Chatham County

Savannah, Georgia · Superintendent: Denise Watts · #10 of 160 Georgia districts by enrollment

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35,744

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$12,890

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · 8% above the Georgia median

13.0

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Georgia median 13.9

Savannah-Chatham County is a public school district based in Savannah, Georgia, serving 35,744 students in 57 schools. By enrollment it ranks #10 of the 160 Georgia districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 94% of them. Its schools average 627 students each, about the same as the Georgia median of 662. Its superintendent is Denise Watts. It spends about $12,890 per student on day-to-day operations, 8% more than the Georgia median. It has roughly 13.0 students per teacher.

How Savannah-Chatham County compares

Savannah-Chatham CountyGeorgia median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$12,890

Georgia median $11,989 · 8% above · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$7,563

Georgia median $7,267 · about the same · FY2020-21

Students per school627

Georgia median 662 · 5% below · 2024-25

Students per teacher13.0

Georgia median 13.9 · 6% below · 2024-25

Students per counselor261

Georgia median 425 · 39% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$608.9 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 8%State 27%Local 64%

Measure	Savannah-Chatham County	Georgia median	Year
Current spending per student	$12,890	$11,989	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$7,563	$7,267	FY2020-21
Total spending	$556.5 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$608.9 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	2,758	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	5,636	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	13.0	13.9	2024-25
Students per counselor	261	425	2024-25

Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The Georgia median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

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Denise Watts

Superintendent, Savannah-Chatham County

Source: Georgia School Superintendents Association member directory, checked 2026-10-05. Report a change

In the news

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Peer districts in Georgia

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Henry CountyMcDonough	43,012	53	$10,537	15.8	#8
Cherokee CountyCanton	42,031	37	$11,358	14.4	#9
Savannah-Chatham CountySavannah · this district	35,744	57	$12,890	13.0	#10
Paulding CountyDallas	31,426	34	$10,930	14.8	#11
Houston CountyPerry	30,939	38	$12,263	14.9	#12

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Santa Ana UnifiedSanta Ana, CA	36,036	$15,998	20.0
St. Tammany ParishCovington, LA	35,956	$13,926	12.8
Cabarrus County SchoolsConcord, NC	35,772	$9,927	16.5
Jefferson CountyBirmingham, AL	35,444	$10,237	17.4

Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.

Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-ga-savannah-chatham-county