West Central Reporter

Calhoun County schools welcomed 584 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a decrease of 4.6% from the previous school year, when there were 612 students enrolled in the county.

Calhoun County had the third lowest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 52.1% identified as male, and 47.9% as female.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 95.2% of its student body.

Within Calhoun County, Calhoun Elementary/Junior High School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 333 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
Brussels Grade School	Brussels	35
Brussels High School	Brussels	49
Calhoun Elementary/Junior High School	Hardin	333
Calhoun High School	Hardin	167