South Central Reporter

Fayette County schools welcomed 2,838 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is an increase of 0.6% over the previous school year, when there were 2,822 students enrolled in the county.

Fayette County had the 48th lowest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 52% identified as male, and 48% as female.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 94.5% of its student body.

Within Fayette County, Vandalia Elementary School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 558 students.

As of the 2023-24 school year, Illinois public schools enrolled approximately 1.85 million students across nearly 4,000 schools. There was roughly one teacher for every 15 students, slightly better than the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state's demographic changes. Between the 2019–20 and 2022–23 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately 1.98 million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 127,000 students or 6.4%. This decline is significantly higher than the typical annual decreases of 0.5% to 1.5% observed in the preceding years, reflecting broader demographic shifts within the state.

School	City	Enrollment
Brownstown Elementary School	Brownstown	269
Brownstown High School	Brownstown	87
Brownstown Junior High School	Brownstown	59
Ramsey Elementary School	Ramsey	206
Ramsey High School	Ramsey	185
South Central High School	Farina	185
St. Elmo Elementary School	St. Elmo	224
St. Elmo Junior High School	St. Elmo	55
St. Elmo Senior High School	St. Elmo	116
Vandalia Community High School	Vandalia	370
Vandalia Elementary School	Vandalia	558
Vandalia Junior High School	Vandalia	524