NW Illinois News

There were 3,091 white students enrolled in Lee County school districts in the 2023-24 school year, 0.2% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Data showed that white students made up 83.1% of the 3,719 students in the county. They were the most represented ethnicity.

Among the five districts in Lee County, Dixon Unit School District 170 recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 1,909 students.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with Lee County.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school funding formula.

As of the 2023-24 school year, Illinois public schools enrolled approximately 1.85 million students across nearly 4,000 schools. There was roughly one teacher for every 15 students, slightly better than the national average of 1:16.

District	white Student Enrollment Percentage	Total enrollment
Dixon Unit School District 170	80%	2,386
Amboy Community Unit School District 272	89.3%	699
Ashton Franklin Center Community Unit School District 275	90.4%	456
Lee Center Community Unit School District 271	84.4%	122
Steward Elementary School District 220	76.8%	56