Macon Reporter

There were 2,535 white students enrolled in Decatur School District 61 in the 2021-22 school year, 8.8% less than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Data showed that Decatur School District 61 welcomed 8,923 students during the 2021-22 school year. Among them, white students comprised 31.1% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the district.

Decatur School District 61 roughly covers schools within Macon County and has a main office in Decatur.

Among the 15 schools in Decatur School District 61, MacArthur High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2021-22 school year, with a total of 372 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	8,147	2,535	31.1%
2021	8,451	2,779	32.9%
2020	8,742	3,127	35.8%
2019	8,815	3,138	35.6%
2018	8,923	3,340	37.4%