Carbondale Reporter

The majority of students in Williamson County district's were white in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 9,748 students attending Williamson County district schools, 82.2% were white. Multi-racial students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 7.7% of Williamson County's districts students.

In the previous school year, white students were the most common group in Williamson County districts, representing 82.5% of the student body.

Marion Community Unit School District 2 had the most diverse student body in the Williamson County, including American Indian, Asian, African American, Hispanic, Multi-racial, and white.

In the 2021-22 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public school districts in the county increased 0.6% when compared to the previous year.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with Williamson County.

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.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting demographic changes. Combined public and private K-12 enrollment dropped 3% between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

District	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrolment
Carterville Community Unit School District 5	White	82.4%	2,200
Crab Orchard Community Unit School District 3	White	95.8%	480
Herrin Community Unit School District 4	White	82.6%	2,337
Johnston City Community Unit School District 1	White	90.3%	1,036
Marion Community Unit School District 2	White	77.9%	3,695