Will County Gazette

There were 827 white students enrolled in Joliet Public School District 86 in the 2021-22 school year, 13.9% less than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Data showed that Joliet Public School District 86 welcomed 11,444 students during the 2021-22 school year. Among them, white students comprised 8.4% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the district.

Joliet Public School District 86 roughly covers schools within Will County and has a main office in Joliet.

Among the 20 schools in Joliet Public School District 86, Hufford Junior High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2021-22 school year, with a total of 143 students.

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 three percent 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.

Year	Total District Enrollment	Total of White Students	White students %
2022	9,814	827	8.4%
2021	10,256	961	9.4%
2020	10,798	1,041	9.6%
2019	11,226	1,125	10%
2018	11,444	1,280	11.2%