Bushnell-Prairie City Community Unit School District 170 announced on Apr. 2 that the first day of school for students in the 2026-2027 academic year will be Monday, August 17, 2026. The district released its official school calendar for the upcoming year.
The release of the new calendar provides families and staff with important dates to help plan for the next academic year. Knowing the start date allows parents, teachers, and students to prepare ahead of time.
Bushnell-Prairie City Community Unit School District 170 serves both McDonough and Fulton counties, including Bushnell-Prairie City Elementary School, Bushnell-Prairie City High School, and Bushnell-Prairie City Junior High School according to the Illinois Report Card. The district employs a total of 60 teachers who earn an average salary of $38,378 before pension contributions; about three quarters are women and one quarter are men. No teacher in the district had more than ten absences during a single school year according to state data.
Student demographics show that Bushnell Prairie City Community Unit School District 170 is predominantly White at nearly ninety-four percent, with smaller percentages identifying as Black (2.1 percent), Hispanic (1.6 percent), or Asian (0.2 percent) as reported by ISBE. In terms of finances, the district spent $17,022 per student in 2020 for a total expenditure exceeding $10 million according to public records.
Attendance remains above state averages: in the 2020 school year there were twenty-three chronically truant students enrolled—a rate of just under four percent—compared to a statewide average truancy rate of nearly ten percent according to ISBE data.
With this advance notice about key dates for next year’s academic schedule, families across McDonough and Fulton counties can begin making plans as summer approaches.
