East Central Reporter

Douglas County schools welcomed 2,731 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a decrease of 4% from the previous school year, when there were 2,844 students enrolled in the county.

Douglas County had the 47th lowest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 51.5% identified as male, and 48.5% as female.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 78.9% of its student body.

Within Douglas County, Arcola Elementary School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 407 students.

As of the 2023-24 school year, Illinois public schools enrolled approximately 1.85 million students across nearly 4,000 schools. There was roughly one teacher for every 15 students, slightly better than the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state's demographic changes. Between the 2019–20 and 2022–23 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately 1.98 million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 127,000 students or 6.4%. This decline is significantly higher than the typical annual decreases of 0.5% to 1.5% observed in the preceding years, reflecting broader demographic shifts within the state.

School	City	Enrollment
Arcola Elementary School	Arcola	407
Arcola High School	Arcola	281
Arthur Grade School	Arthur	256
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond High School	Arthur	280
East Prairie Middle School	Tuscola	272
North Ward Elementary School	Tuscola	324
Tuscola High School	Tuscola	287
Villa Grove Elementary School	Villa Grove	325
Villa Grove High School	Villa Grove	198
Villa Grove Junior High School	Villa Grove	101