West Central Reporter

Students in Hancock County districts had a truancy rate of 6.1% in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. This was a decrease from the previous school year's rate of 7%.

There were 2,752 students enrolled in Hancock County districts in the 2021-22 school year, of which 168 students were absent throughout the year.

The districts located in the county had a dropout rate 7.4%, which was 2% higher than the year before.

Across the county, Dallas Elementary School District 327 suffered the most truancy issues (13.6%) in the 2021-22 school year. Meanwhile, Carthage Elementary School District 317 successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (4%).

Students are generally considered chronically truant if they miss 5% or more of the total number of school days in a year without acceptable excuses.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with Hancock County.

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 3% between the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last five years.

District	No. of students enrolled	Chronic truancy rates
Dallas Elementary School District 327	178	13.6%
Illini West High School District 307	337	12.7%
Southeastern Community Unit School District 337	457	11.4%
Hamilton Community Consolidated School District 328	551	6.6%
Nauvoo-Colusa Community Unit School District 325	195	5.7%
Carthage Elementary School District 317	428	4%