There were 4,292 white students enrolled in Coles County public schools in the 2024-25 school year, 3.6% less than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that white students made up 78.6% of the 5,461 students during the 2024-25 school year. They were the most represented ethnicity in the county schools.
Among the 12 schools in Coles County, Mattoon High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 695 students.
As of the 2024-25 school year, Illinois public schools served just under 1.85 million K-12 students statewide, continuing a slow decline in enrollment from previous years. During that same period, the state recorded a student-teacher ratio of about 17:1 as full-time equivalent teachers rose to a record 137,899.
K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state’s demographic changes. Between the 2017-18 and 2024-25 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately two million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 153,000 students or 7.6%.
| School name | % of White students enrolment | Total enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| Mattoon High School | 82.4% | 843 |
| Charleston High School | 78.4% | 758 |
| Mattoon Middle School | 82.3% | 598 |
| Arland D. Williams Junior Elementary School | 74.2% | 639 |
| Riddle Elementary School | 78.7% | 586 |
| Jefferson Elementary School | 74.9% | 565 |
| Carl Sandburg Elementary School | 73.3% | 551 |
| Charleston Middle School | 75.6% | 386 |
| Lake Crest Elementary School | 98.9% | 184 |
| Mark Twain Elementary School | 72% | 218 |
| Ashmore Elementary School | 83.8% | 74 |
| Oakland High School | 94.9% | 59 |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education. The source data can be found here.
