Lake County Gazette

There were 345 white students enrolled in Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 in the 2021-22 school year, 14.2% less than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Data showed that Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 welcomed 2,633 students during the 2021-22 school year. Among them, white students comprised 13.8% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the district.

Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 roughly covers schools within Lake County and has a main office in Zion.

Among the two schools in Zion-Benton Township High School District 126, Zion-Benton Township High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2021-22 school year, with a total of 312 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	2,501	345	13.8%
2021	2,531	402	15.9%
2020	2,489	439	17.6%
2019	2,621	507	19.3%
2018	2,633	621	23.6%