There were 844 Hispanic students enrolled in Oak Park Elementary School District 97 in the 2024-25 school year, 3.4% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Oak Park Elementary School District 97 welcomed 5,501 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Hispanic students comprised 15.3% of the student body to be the third most represented ethnicity in the district.
Oak Park Elementary School District 97 roughly covers schools within Cook County and has a main office in Oak Park.
Among the 10 schools in Oak Park Elementary School District 97, Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School recorded the highest enrollment of Hispanic students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 175 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 Hispanic Students | Hispanic students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 5,501 | 844 | 15.3% |
| 2023-24 | 5,540 | 816 | 14.7% |
| 2022-23 | 5,492 | 735 | 13.4% |
| 2021-22 | 5,532 | 757 | 13.7% |
| 2020-21 | 5,599 | 737 | 13.2% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
