East Central Reporter

The only school district in Richland County suffered a drop in enrollment numbers in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

There were 2,194 students in the halls of East Richland Community Unit School District 1 schools, 1.7% lower than the year before.

The enrollment numbers in Richland County amplified the state's declining trend, showing a sharper decrease in student numbers than the state average.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2021-22 school year, 52.6% of them were boys, and 47.4% were girls.

Data also showed that the majority of students were white, making up 91% of the East Richland Community Unit School District 1's total enrollment.

East Richland Community Unit School District 1 has a main office in Olney and is the only school district within Richland County.

In 2022, Illinois had 1,925,415 students enrolled in a total of almost 4,000 schools. There were 130,467 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for several years, influenced by demographic changes. Between the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years, public and private K-12 enrollment fell by 3% (60,900 students), a significantly larger decline than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual decreases seen in the state over the last five years.

School	Total Enrollment in 2021-22	Total Enrollment in 2020-21	Total % Change
Richland County Elementary School	1,040	1,037	0.3%
Richland County High School	697	722	-3.5%
Richland County Middle School	457	474	-3.6%