South Central Reporter

Students in Montgomery County schools were truant 9.4% of the time in the 2021-22 school year, the Illinois State Board of Education reported. The truancy rate was higher than the previous school year.

There were 3,856 students enrolled in Montgomery County in the 2021-22 school year, meaning 363 students were absent throughout the year.

The dropout rate in the county was 5.6%, 2.4% 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
Beckemeyer Elementary School	646	6.6%
Coffeen Early Childhood Center	122	-
Farmersville Elementary School	92	-
Hillsboro High School	467	23.5%
Hillsboro Junior High School	328	12.5%
J.D. Colt Elementary School	179	-
Lincolnwood High School	129	11.1%
Lincolnwood Junior High School	95	-
Litchfield Middle School	274	13%
Litchfield Prekindergarten	118	-
Litchfield Senior High School	378	12.5%
Madison Park Elementary School	146	15.6%
Nokomis Junior/Senior High School	305	-
North Elementary School	287	6.8%
Raymond Grade School	127	-
Russell Elementary School	162	-