There were 582 white students enrolled in Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 in the 2024-25 school year, 5.2% fewer than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 welcomed 642 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, white students comprised 90.7% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the district.
Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 roughly covers schools within DeWitt County and has a main office in Farmer City.
Among the three schools in Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18, Ruth M. Schneider Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 233 students.
Nationwide, public K-12 education spending has approached roughly $857 billion, with average per-student spending near $17,000, funded primarily through state and local sources. Spending varies widely by state, and Illinois ranks above the national average, with roughly $22,000 spent per student when state, local, and federal funding are combined.
Illinois public school enrollment continues a long-term downward trend. According to statewide reporting and education data analyses, total enrollment fell to about 1.85 million students as of the 2023-24 school year, and major districts such as Chicago Public Schools saw further declines—for example, CPS reported a drop of more than 9,000 students between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 counts.
| Year | Total District Enrollment | Total of White Students | White students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 642 | 582 | 90.7% |
| 2023-24 | 661 | 614 | 92.9% |
| 2022-23 | 663 | 613 | 92.5% |
| 2021-22 | 643 | 591 | 91.9% |
| 2020-21 | 646 | 605 | 93.7% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
