Chambana Sun

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

Of the 2,504 students attending Ford County schools, 84.5% were white. Hispanic students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 8.9% of Ford County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Ford County, representing 85.8% of the student body.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High School had the most even distribution of races among county schools, including 83.1% white students, 11.3% Hispanic students, and 4.5% multiracial students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county increased by 0.7% 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
Clara Peterson Elementary School	White	83%	624
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Elementary School	White	85.5%	468
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley High School	White	88.2%	287
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Middle School	White	86.4%	206
Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School	White	83.6%	397
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High School	White	83.1%	266
Tri Point Elementary School	White	85%	113
Tri-Point Junior High/Elementary	White	83.2%	143