East Central Reporter

Students in Clark County schools were truant 5.7% of the time in the 2021-22 school year, the Illinois State Board of Education reported. The truancy rate was higher than the previous school year.

There were 2,372 students enrolled in Clark County in the 2021-22 school year, meaning 136 students were absent throughout the year.

The dropout rate in the county was 9.1%, 5.7% higher than the year before.

Statewide, Hardin County schools suffered the most truancy issues (38.4%) in the 2021-22 school year. Meanwhile, Monroe County schools successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (3.1%).

Students are generally considered chronically truant if they miss 5% or more of the total number of school days in a year without acceptable excuses.

In 2022, Illinois had more than 1.9 million students enrolled in nearly 4,000 schools across 852 school districts. There were more than 350,000 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 many years, reflecting demographic changes. Combined public and private K-12 enrollment dropped three percent between the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

Schools	No. of students enrolled	Chronic truancy rates
Casey-Westfield Junior/Senior High School	354	3%
Marshall High School	340	11.8%
Marshall Junior High School	176	7.7%
Martinsville Elementary School	214	9%
Martinsville Junior-Senior High School	134	11.3%
Monroe Elementary School	486	-
North Elementary School	391	5.3%
South Elementary School	277	-