Chambana Sun

There were 196 Hispanic students enrolled in Ford County school districts in the 2022-23 school year, 22.5% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Data showed that Hispanic students made up 8.7% of the 2,248 students in the county. They were the second most represented ethnicity at the time.

Among the two districts in Ford County, Paxton-Buckley-Loda Community Unit School District 10 recorded the highest enrollment of Hispanic students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 126 students.

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 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

District	Hispanic Student Enrollment Percentage	Total enrollment
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Community Unit School District 10	9.8%	1,287
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Community Unit School District 5	7.3%	961