There were 10 Black students enrolled in DeSoto Consolidated School District 86 in the 2024-25 school year, 16.7% fewer than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that DeSoto Consolidated School District 86 welcomed 196 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 5.1% of the student body to be the least represented ethnicity in the district.
DeSoto Consolidated School District 86 roughly covers schools within Jackson County and has a main office in De Soto.
DeSoto Elementary School is the only one school in the DeSoto Consolidated School District 86 that recorded enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 10 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 Black Students | Black students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 196 | 10 | 5.1% |
| 2023-24 | 193 | 12 | 6.2% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
