South Cook News

There were 54 white students enrolled in Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 in the 2021-22 school year, 3.6% less than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Data showed that Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 welcomed 2,769 students during the 2021-22 school year. Among them, white students comprised 2.1% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the district.

Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 roughly covers schools within Cook County and has a main office in Markham.

Among the seven schools in Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144, Fieldcrest Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2021-22 school year, with a total of 28 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	2,582	54	2.1%
2021	2,599	56	2.2%
2020	2,869	64	2.2%
2019	2,826	69	2.4%
2018	2,769	69	2.5%