McLean County Times

Students in Woodford County schools were truant 5.1% 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 7,079 students enrolled in Woodford County in the 2021-22 school year, meaning 363 students were absent throughout the year.

The dropout rate in the county was 3.7%, 1.4% 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
Centennial School	161	-
Congerville Elementary School	83	-
Davenport Elementary School	409	-
El Paso-Gridley High School	389	14.8%
El Paso-Gridley Junior High School	360	-
Eureka High School	441	6.9%
Eureka Middle School	495	3.4%
Fieldcrest High School	279	18%
Fieldcrest Intermediate School	177	-
Fieldcrest Middle School	179	18.9%
Fieldcrest Primary School	215	-
Germantown Hills Elementary School	446	-
Germantown Hills Middle School	365	-
Goodfield Elementary School	74	-
Jefferson Park School	294	-
Lowpoint-Washburn Elementary School	178	-
Lowpoint-Washburn Junior Senior High School	139	12%
Metamora Grade School	795	2.3%
Metamora High School	933	2.2%
Riverview Elementary School	230	7.2%
Roanoke-Benson High School	130	-
Roanoke-Benson Junior High School	144	39.5%
Sowers Elementary School	163	-