Chambana Sun

Students in Ford County districts had a truancy rate of 6.5% in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. This was an increase over the previous school year's rate of 3.4%.

There were 2,233 students enrolled in Ford County districts in the 2021-22 school year, of which 146 students were absent throughout the year.

Across the county, Paxton-Buckley-Loda Community Unit School District 10 suffered the most truancy issues (8.9%) in the 2021-22 school year. Meanwhile, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Community Unit School District 5 successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (4.9%).

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.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with Ford County.

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 3% between the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last five years.

District	No. of students enrolled	Chronic truancy rates
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Community Unit School District 10	1,276	8.9%
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Community Unit School District 5	957	4.9%