There were 1,842 Black students enrolled in DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 in the 2024-25 school year, 2.3% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 welcomed 6,584 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 28.0% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the district.
DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 roughly covers schools within DeKalb County and has a main office in DeKalb.
Among the 11 schools in DeKalb Community Unit School District 428, Dekalb High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 459 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 Black Students | Black students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 6,584 | 1,842 | 28% |
| 2023-24 | 6,538 | 1,801 | 27.5% |
| 2022-23 | 6,664 | 1,855 | 27.8% |
| 2021-22 | 6,703 | 1,815 | 27.1% |
| 2020-21 | 6,472 | 1,597 | 24.7% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
