East Central Reporter

Richland County Elementary School had the highest enrollment among Richland County schools, welcoming 1,040 students during the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Out of all the students welcomed in the 2021-22 school year, 51.1% of them were boys, and 48.9% were girls.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 92.1% of the student body at Richland County Elementary School.

Among the three schools in Richland County, Richland County High School ranked second in enrollment with 697 students, while Richland County Middle School welcomed 457 students to be ranked third in the 2021-22 school year.

Richland County Elementary School is a part of East Richland Community Unit School District 1, which generally encompasses schools within Richland County with its main office in Olney.

In the previous school year, Richland County Elementary School had the highest number of students among Richland County schools.

In the 2021-22 school year, Illinois had roughly 1.9 million students enrolled across approximately schools. There were more than 130,000 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 3% between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

School name	City	Total Enrolment
Richland County Elementary School	Olney	1,040
Richland County High School	Olney	697
Richland County Middle School	Olney	457