There were 37 Hispanic students enrolled in Palos Heights School District 128 in the 2024-25 school year, 70.4% fewer than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Palos Heights School District 128 welcomed 821 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Hispanic students comprised 4.5% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the district.
Palos Heights School District 128 roughly covers schools within Cook County and has a main office in Palos Heights.
Among the four schools in Palos Heights School District 128, Independence Junior High School recorded the highest enrollment of Hispanic students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 23 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 Hispanic Students | Hispanic students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 821 | 37 | 4.5% |
| 2023-24 | 783 | 125 | 16% |
| 2022-23 | 767 | 130 | 16.9% |
| 2021-22 | 726 | 117 | 16.1% |
| 2020-21 | 669 | 110 | 16.4% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
