South Central Reporter

Students in Macoupin County schools were truant 9.3% of the time in the 2021-22 school year, the Illinois State Board of Education reported. The truancy rate was lower than the previous school year.

There were 7,442 students enrolled in Macoupin County in the 2021-22 school year, meaning 695 students were absent throughout the year.

The dropout rate in the county was 6.1%, 2.5% higher than the year before.

Statewide, Hardin County schools suffered the most truancy issues (38.4%) in the 2021-22 school year. Meanwhile, Monroe County schools successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (3.1%).

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.

In 2022, Illinois had more than 1.9 million students enrolled in nearly 4,000 schools across 852 school districts. There were more than 350,000 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 three percent between the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

Schools	No. of students enrolled	Chronic truancy rates
Ben-Gil Elementary School	534	11.1%
Brighton North Primary School	271	-
Bunker Hill High School	222	8.3%
Carlinville High School	407	10.6%
Carlinville Intermediate School	265	-
Carlinville Middle School	283	10.1%
Carlinville Primary School	365	-
Gillespie High School	345	23.9%
Gillespie Middle School	261	23%
Medora Intermediate School	183	7.8%
Mt. Olive Elementary School	367	6.4%
Mt. Olive High School	105	-
North Mac Elementary School	320	8.9%
North Mac High School	370	23.3%
North Mac Intermediate School	215	13.7%
North Mac Middle School	261	17.5%
Northwestern Elementary School	193	-
Northwestern High School	90	13.1%
Northwestern Junior High School	43	-
Shipman Elementary School	181	-
Southwestern High School	382	9.6%
Southwestern Middle School	209	7%
Staunton Elementary School	540	5.5%
Staunton High School	388	10.9%
Staunton Junior High School	285	5.3%
Wolf Ridge Education Center	357	7.9%