Whiteside County Education: Which district had most students enrolled in schools in 2021-22 school year

River Bend Community Unit School District 2 Principal Mr. Darryl Hogue (2023) | River Bend Community Unit School District 2

By NW Illinois News

Jan 21, 2024

Sterling Community Unit School District 5 had the highest enrollment among Whiteside County districts, welcoming 3,161 students during the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2021-22 school year, 50.1% of them were girls, and 49.9% were boys.

Data also showed that the majority of students were white, making up 55.4% of the Sterling Community Unit School District 5's total enrollment.

Among the nine districts in Whiteside County, Morrison Community Unit School District 6 ranked second in enrollment numbers with 935 students, while River Bend Community Unit School District 2 welcomed 918 students and ranked third in the 2021-22 school year.

Sterling Community Unit School District 5 roughly covers schools within Whiteside County with its main office in Sterling.

In the previous school year, Sterling Community Unit School District 5 also had the highest number of students among Whiteside County districts.

In 2022, Illinois had 1,925,415 students enrolled in a total of almost 4,000 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 several years, influenced by demographic changes. Between the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years, public and private K-12 enrollment fell by 3% (60,900 students), a significantly larger decline than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual decreases seen in the state over the last five years.

Enrollment in Sterling Community Unit School District 5 Over 5 Years

Enrollment in Whiteside County Districts During 2021-22 School Year

District	City (main office)	Total Enrollment
Sterling Community Unit School District 5	Sterling	3,161
Morrison Community Unit School District 6	Morrison	935
River Bend Community Unit School District 2	Fulton	918
Rock Falls Elementary School District 13	Rock Falls	855
Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Community Unit School District 3	Prophetstown	754
Erie Community Unit School District 1	Erie	618
Rock Falls Township High School District 301	Rock Falls	558
East Coloma-Nelson Consolidated Elementary School District 20	Rock Falls	231
Montmorency Community Consolidated School District 145	Rock Falls	223