West Central Reporter

There were 406 white students enrolled in Beardstown Community Unit School District 15 in the 2021-22 school year, 1.9% less than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Data showed that Beardstown Community Unit School District 15 welcomed 1,582 students during the 2021-22 school year. Among them, white students comprised 28.9% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the district.

Beardstown Community Unit School District 15 roughly covers schools within Cass County and has a main office in Beardstown.

Among the three schools in Beardstown Community Unit School District 15, Beardstown Junior/Senior High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2021-22 school year, with a total of 256 students.

In 2022, Illinois had 1,925,415 students enrolled in a total of 3,977 schools. There were 130,467 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 2019-20 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.

Year	Total District Enrollment	Total of White Students	White students %
2022	1,406	406	28.9%
2021	1,390	414	29.8%
2020	1,519	499	32.9%
2019	1,576	539	34.2%
2018	1,582	563	35.6%