Carbondale Reporter

Students in Jackson County districts had a truancy rate of 17.6% in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. This was a decrease from the previous school year's rate of 21.9%.

There were 6,566 students enrolled in Jackson County districts in the 2021-22 school year, of which 1,158 students were absent throughout the year.

The districts located in the county had a dropout rate 4.9%, which was 0% the same as the year before.

Across the county, Carbondale Community High School District 165 suffered the most truancy issues (33.8%) in the 2021-22 school year. Meanwhile, Trico Community Unit School District 176 successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (5.3%).

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.

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

In 2022, Illinois had 1,925,415 students enrolled in a total of 3,977 schools. There were 130,467 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 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last five years.

District	No. of students enrolled	Chronic truancy rates
Carbondale Community High School District 165	930	33.8%
Carbondale Elementary School District 95	1,513	24.6%
Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186	1,906	18%
DeSoto Consolidated School District 86	177	16.7%
Unity Point Community Consolidated School District 140	617	13.3%
Elverado Community Unit School District 196	382	11.4%
Trico Community Unit School District 176	800	5.3%