Galesburg Reporter

Students in Knox County schools were truant 14.5% 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 6,677 students enrolled in Knox County in the 2021-22 school year, meaning 971 students were absent throughout the year.

The dropout rate in the county was 6%, 0.2% lower 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
Abingdon-Avon High School	272	17.6%
Abingdon-Avon Middle School	201	11.7%
Avon Elementary School	47	-
Bright Futures Pre-K Program	172	-
Churchill Junior High School	579	21.9%
Galesburg High School	1,222	36.2%
Hedding Grade School	365	6.3%
King Elementary School	503	18.9%
Knoxville Junior High School	262	-
Knoxville Senior High School	328	-
Lombard Middle School	551	16.1%
Mable Woolsey Elementary School	394	-
ROWVA Elementary School	352	-
ROWVA Junior/Senior High School	271	5%
Silas Willard Elementary School	420	9.3%
Steele School	454	14.2%
Williamsfield Elementary School	114	-
Williamsfield High School	89	-
Williamsfield Middle School	81	-