Virginia students are returning to K-12 public schools—although enrollment has not returned to pre-pandemic levels—but there are fewer teachers due to an increase in teacher vacancies.

The rebound comes after an enrollment decline the previous two years.

Fall membership data

Enrollment numbers increased by more than 11,300 students from fall 2021 to fall 2022, according to data from the Virginia Department of Education.

VDOE annually collects statistics on the number of students enrolled in public school on Sept. 30. This report, known as “Fall Membership,” is submitted by each school in Virginia that officially enrolls students.

Virginia K-12 enrollment sits just over 1.26 million full- and part-time students combined. Part-time students are nonpublic school students who take one or more classes in a public school, according to VDOE.

The numbers show schools haven’t reached the 2019-20, pre-pandemic levels of almost 1.3 million students.

The number of current par...