South West Illinois News

Perry County schools welcomed 2,538 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is an increase of 1.8% over the previous school year, when there were 2,492 students enrolled in the county.

Perry County had the 42nd lowest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 50.2% identified as male, and 49.8% as female.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 88.7% of its student body.

Within Perry County, Du Quoin Elementary School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 497 students.

As of the 2023-24 school year, Illinois public schools enrolled approximately 1.85 million students across nearly 4,000 schools. There was roughly one teacher for every 15 students, slightly better than the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state's demographic changes. Between the 2019–20 and 2022–23 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately 1.98 million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 127,000 students or 6.4%. This decline is significantly higher than the typical annual decreases of 0.5% to 1.5% observed in the preceding years, reflecting broader demographic shifts within the state.

School	City	Enrollment
Community Consolidated School	Pinckneyville	203
Du Quoin Elementary School	Du Quoin	497
Du Quoin High School	Du Quoin	496
Du Quoin Middle School	Du Quoin	356
Pinckneyville Community High School	Pinckneyville	404
Pinckneyville Elementary School	Pinckneyville	269
Pinckneyville Middle School	Pinckneyville	220
Tamaroa Elementary School	Tamaroa	93