Kankakee Times

The majority of students in Iroquois County schools were white in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 3,447 students attending Iroquois County schools, 80.8% were white. Hispanic students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 12.7% of Iroquois County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Iroquois County, representing 81.7% of the student body.

Watseka Junior High School had the most even distribution of races among county schools, including 78.9% white students, 12.4% Hispanic students, and 5.2% multiracial students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped 0.5% compared to the previous year.

In the 2021-22 school year, Illinois had roughly 1.9 million students enrolled across approximately schools. There were more than 130,000 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

Illinois has increased its state funding for public schools by $350 million, bringing the total to $8.6 billion for the upcoming year. This is in line with a 2017 law aiming to provide adequate funding to all schools by 2027.

However, experts suggest that this goal may be delayed unless education funding jumps to at least $550 million. According to a Center for Tax and Budget Accountability report, there’s currently a funding gap of about $2.3 billion.

School name	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Central High School	White	87.2%	274
Chebanse Elementary School	White	89.7%	339
Cissna Park Elementary School	White	91.8%	122
Cissna Park Junior High School	White	85.5%	55
Cissna Park Senior High School	White	90.4%	104
Crescent City Grade School	White	80.3%	66
Donovan Elementary School	White	83.2%	149
Donovan Junior High School	White	88.1%	59
Donovan Senior High School	White	88.9%	72
Iroquois West Elementary School/Danforth	White	63.4%	101
Iroquois West Elementary School/Gilman	White	67.1%	155
Iroquois West Elementary School/Thawville	White	67.5%	126
Iroquois West High School	White	67%	261
Iroquois West Middle School	White	60.5%	190
John L. Nash Middle School	White	87.8%	288
Milford Grade School West Campus	White	82.6%	350
Milford High School Campus	White	91.4%	151
Wanda Kendall Elementary School	White	79.2%	120
Watseka Community High School	White	82.7%	271
Watseka Junior High School	White	78.9%	194