There were 649 Black students enrolled in Knox County public schools in the 2024-25 school year, 0.5% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Black students made up 10.6% of the 6,114 students during the 2024-25 school year. They were the second most represented ethnicity in the county schools.
Among the 16 schools in Knox County, Galesburg High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 148 students.
As of the 2024-25 school year, Illinois public schools served just under 1.85 million K-12 students statewide, continuing a slow decline in enrollment from previous years. During that same period, the state recorded a student-teacher ratio of about 17:1 as full-time equivalent teachers rose to a record 137,899.
K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state’s demographic changes. Between the 2017-18 and 2024-25 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately two million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 153,000 students or 7.6%.
| School name | % of Black students enrolment | Total enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| Galesburg High School | 13.1% | 1,130 |
| Steele School | 25.8% | 546 |
| King Elementary School | 21% | 481 |
| Lombard Middle School | 18.3% | 529 |
| Churchill Junior High School | 17.5% | 513 |
| Silas Willard Elementary School | 14% | 443 |
| ROWVA Elementary School | 2.7% | 365 |
| Hedding Grade School | 0% | 373 |
| Williamsfield Elementary School | 0% | 128 |
| Williamsfield High School | 0% | 94 |
| Williamsfield Middle School | 0% | 81 |
| Mable Woolsey Elementary School | 0% | 384 |
| Knoxville Junior High School | 0% | 261 |
| Knoxville Senior High School | 0% | 275 |
| ROWVA Junior/Senior High School | 0% | 241 |
| Abingdon-Avon High School | 0% | 270 |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education. The source data can be found here.
