There were 168 Hispanic students enrolled in Prairie Central Community Unit School District 8 in the 2024-25 school year, 7.7% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Prairie Central Community Unit School District 8 welcomed 1,683 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Hispanic students comprised 10.0% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the district.
Prairie Central Community Unit School District 8 roughly covers schools within Livingston County and has a main office in Fairbury.
Among the six schools in Prairie Central Community Unit School District 8, Prairie Central High School recorded the highest enrollment of Hispanic students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 54 students.
Nationwide, public K-12 education spending has approached roughly $857 billion, with average per-student spending near $17,000, funded primarily through state and local sources. Spending varies widely by state, and Illinois ranks above the national average, with roughly $22,000 spent per student when state, local, and federal funding are combined.
Illinois public school enrollment continues a long-term downward trend. According to statewide reporting and education data analyses, total enrollment fell to about 1.85 million students as of the 2023-24 school year, and major districts such as Chicago Public Schools saw further declines—for example, CPS reported a drop of more than 9,000 students between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 counts.
| Year | Total District Enrollment | Total of Hispanic Students | Hispanic students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,683 | 168 | 10% |
| 2023-24 | 1,685 | 156 | 9.3% |
| 2022-23 | 1,693 | 138 | 8.2% |
| 2021-22 | 1,723 | 145 | 8.4% |
| 2020-21 | 1,692 | 115 | 6.8% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
