Macon Reporter

Students in Macon County schools were truant 29.4% of the time in the 2021-22 school year, the Illinois State Board of Education reported. The truancy rate was lower than the previous school year.

There were 15,129 students enrolled in Macon County in the 2021-22 school year, meaning 4,442 students were absent throughout the year.

The dropout rate in the county was 4.2%, 1.3% higher than the year before.

Statewide, Hardin County schools suffered the most truancy issues (38.4%) in the 2021-22 school year. Meanwhile, Monroe County schools successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (3.1%).

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.

In 2022, Illinois had more than 1.9 million students enrolled in nearly 4,000 schools across 852 school districts. There were more than 350,000 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 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

Schools	No. of students enrolled	Chronic truancy rates
American Dreamer STEM Academy	401	39.6%
Argenta-Oreana Elementary School	460	3%
Argenta-Oreana High School	246	33.6%
Argenta-Oreana Middle School	217	39%
Dennis Elementary School	532	34.5%
Eisenhower High School	994	80.1%
Franklin Grove Elementary School	461	50.1%
Hope Academy	564	74.4%
Johns Hill Magnet School	575	31.6%
MacArthur High School	1,137	71.8%
Maroa-Forsyth Grade School	555	-
Maroa-Forsyth Middle School	264	5.4%
Maroa-Forsyth Senior High School	335	10.7%
McGaughey Elementary School	383	-
Meridian Elementary School	433	3.8%
Meridian High School	295	8.4%
Meridian Middle School	206	8.6%
Michael E. Baum Elementary School	334	37.9%
Montessori Academy for Peace	689	11.7%
Mt. Zion Elementary School	345	-
Mt. Zion High School	719	11.1%
Mt. Zion Intermediate School	527	2%
Mt. Zion Junior High School	401	-
Muffley Elementary School	396	63.9%
Parsons Accelerated School	501	57.5%
Pershing Early Learning Center	414	-
Robertson Charter School	348	33%
Sangamon Valley High School	198	9.2%
Sangamon Valley Intermediate School	134	-
Sangamon Valley Middle School	160	-
Sangamon Valley Primary School	152	-
South Shores Elementary School	301	12.5%
Stephen Decatur Middle School	490	65.3%
Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School	404	-
Warrensburg-Latham High School	309	6.3%
Warrensburg-Latham Middle School	239	13.5%