South Central Reporter

Marion County schools welcomed 5,688 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a decrease of 0.9% from the previous school year, when there were 5,739 students enrolled in the county.

Marion County had the 34th highest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 51% identified as male, and 49% as female.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 83.5% of its student body.

Within Marion County, Centralia High School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 868 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
Central City Elementary School	Centralia	295
Centralia High School	Centralia	868
Centralia Junior High School	Centralia	566
Franklin Park Middle School	Salem	584
Hawthorn Elementary School	Salem	375
Iuka Community Consolidated School	Iuka	245
Jordan Elementary School	Centralia	226
Kell Grade School	Kell	71
Odin Attendance Center 9-12	Odin	70
Odin Attendance Center K-8	Odin	162
Patoka Elementary School	Patoka	111
Patoka Junior High School	Patoka	44
Patoka Senior High School	Patoka	67
Raccoon Consolidated Elementary School	Centralia	209
Salem Community High School	Salem	695
Sandoval Elementary School	Sandoval	212
Sandoval Junior High School	Sandoval	96
Sandoval Senior High School	Sandoval	114
Selmaville Elementary School	Salem	236
South Central Elementary-Kinmundy School	Kinmundy	300
South Central Middle School	Kinmundy	142