Kankakee Times

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

Of the 15,776 students attending Kankakee County schools, 54.3% were white. Hispanic students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 20.3% of Kankakee County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Kankakee County, representing 55% of the student body.

Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center, Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, and St. George Elementary School had the most diverse student body in Kankakee County, including Asian, African American, Hispanic, multiracial, and white.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped 1.5% 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
Alan B. Shepard Elementary School	White	62.4%	465
Bonfield Grade School	White	89.1%	313
Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center	White	61.4%	497
Bradley Central Middle School	White	55.2%	402
Bradley East Elementary School	White	55.8%	525
Bradley West Elementary School	White	56.4%	360
Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School	White	66.7%	1,854
Edison Primary School	African American	67.7%	189
Grant Park Elementary School	White	79.9%	303
Grant Park High School	White	86.4%	147
Herscher High School	White	93.9%	477
Herscher Intermediate School	White	92.7%	370
Je-Neir Elementary School	White	48.6%	325
John Kennedy Middle Grade School	African American	49.6%	544
Kankakee High School	African American	43.6%	1,483
Kankakee Junior High School	African American	49.5%	560
King Middle Grade School	African American	48.8%	344
Liberty Intermediate School	White	64.5%	718
Limestone Middle School	White	93.8%	496
Lincoln Cltrl Center-Montessori Elementary School	African American	41%	429
Lorenzo R. Smith Elementary School	African American	54.5%	154
Manteno Elementary School	White	83.5%	697
Manteno High School	White	82.7%	579
Manteno Middle School	White	83.3%	544
Mark Twain Primary School	African American	45.8%	277
Momence High School	White	54.6%	324
Momence Junior High School	White	46.6%	339
Noel Levasseur Elementary School	White	66.2%	343
Shabbona Elementary School	White	51.9%	264
St. Anne Community High School	White	34.3%	178
St. Anne Elementary School	White	62.5%	277
St. George Elementary School	White	72.3%	386
Steuben Elementary School	Hispanic	67.1%	258
Taft Primary School	African American	57.2%	355