SE Illinois News

The majority of students in Saline County schools were white in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 3,559 students attending Saline County schools, 86.5% were white. multiracial students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 5.5% of Saline County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Saline County, representing 87% of the student body.

East Side Intermediate School and Harrisburg High School had the most diverse student body in Saline County, including African American, Hispanic, multiracial, and white.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped 4.8% compared to the previous year.

In the 2021-22 school year, Illinois had roughly 1.9 million students enrolled across approximately schools. There were more than 130,000 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

Illinois has increased its state funding for public schools by $350 million, bringing the total to $8.6 billion for the upcoming year. This is in line with a 2017 law aiming to provide adequate funding to all schools by 2027.

However, experts suggest that this goal may be delayed unless education funding jumps to at least $550 million. According to a Center for Tax and Budget Accountability report, there’s currently a funding gap of about $2.3 billion.

School name	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Carrier Mills-Stonefort Elementary School	White	78.2%	326
Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School	White	81.7%	115
East Side Intermediate School	White	85.8%	359
Eldorado Elementary School	White	91.8%	546
Eldorado High School	White	94.8%	306
Eldorado Middle School	White	94.8%	229
Galatia Elementary School	White	95.9%	170
Galatia High School	White	93.3%	105
Galatia Junior High School	White	90.8%	87
Harrisburg High School	White	82.2%	535
Harrisburg Middle School	White	80.9%	320
School District 428 IYC-HRB	African American	48.7%	39
West Side Primary School	White	85.5%	422