East Central Reporter

Richland County schools welcomed 2,006 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a decrease of 11% from the previous school year, when there were 2,254 students enrolled in the county.

Richland County had the 30th lowest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 51.7% identified as male, and 48.3% as female.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 91% of its student body.

Within Richland County, Richland County Elementary School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 914 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
Richland County Elementary School	Olney	914
Richland County High School	Olney	657
Richland County Middle School	Olney	435