SE Grand Rapids News

There were 6,979 white students enrolled in Ionia County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 1.9% less than the previous year, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

Data showed that Ionia County welcomed 8,039 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, white students comprised 86.8% of the student body to be the highest represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 27 schools in Ionia County, Ionia High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 656 students.

Overall student enrollment in Michigan remains below pre-pandemic levels, with white students experiencing the largest decline at 6.5%.

Academic performance has also suffered, with the state's average NAEP score dropping by 6.5 points and ethnic achievement gaps have widened. Black and Hispanic students' average math proficiency dropped by 7% in 2022, to 13.5% and 28.2%, respectively.

School name	% of white students enrolment	Total enrollment
Ionia High School	81.9	801
Portland High School	91.1	688
Ionia Middle School	83.2	613
Lakewood Elementary School	90.2	500
Oakwood Elementary School	93.9	476
Belding High School	85.6	508
Saranac Elementary School	91	444
Westwood Elementary School	90.5	423
Portland Middle School	91.5	410
Saranac Junior-Senior High School	90.7	388
Ellis Elementary School	82.7	387
Belding Middle School	83.7	362
Woodview Elementary School	84.2	348
A. A. Rather School	85.4	321
Jefferson School	79.9	284
R. B. Boyce Elementary School	86.4	258
Pewamo-Westphalia Elementary School	95.2	208
Twin Rivers Elementary School	81.8	192
Emerson School	76	171
Freedom Acres School	89.3	131
Douglas R. Welch High School	80.5	77
Coon School	100	15
North LeValley Elementary School	100	13
Haynor School	100	6
Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility	11.1	9
Handlon Correctional Facility	0	3
Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility	0	3