Barrington Unit District 220 reported a 6.8% drop in enrollment from 2020 to 2021, which translated to 602 fewer students.
In any other year, a decline of nearly 1,350 students might have resulted in less staff at Elgin Area School District U-46 schools.
But 2021 wasn’t just any other year, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They survived some pretty trying times, and I’m including everyone,” said U-46 Superintendent Tony Sanders. “This was something that was unprecedented in our lifetimes.”
Among 103 suburban school districts in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, more than half added full-time educators and other certified staff members for the 2020-2021 school year, even though roughly 80% reported fewer students from the year before.
Combined, the 103 districts reported 14,201 fewer students for the school year that ended in 2021 than the year that ended in 2020. However, those districts combined to add 650 full-time “certificated employees.”
Barrington Unit District 220 reported a 6.8% drop in enrollment from 2020 to 2021, which translated to 602 fewer students.
“We sent a survey to all families who have exited seeking the reason why,” said Melissa Byrne, District 220’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. “We hope to see more of those families coming back.”
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