South Iowa News

There were 1,043 students enrolled in Decatur County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 3.8% less than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 50.4% identified as male and 49.6% as female.

Data also showed that white students made up 91% of the student body, the largest percentage in Decatur County schools, followed by Hispanic students with 4.7%, 3.4% multiracial, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% Black and 0.1% Native American.

Central Decatur Middle School/High School High School had the highest enrollment among Decatur County’s seven schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 321 students.

Public school enrollment in Iowa remained relatively stable in the 2024-25 school year, with 480,665 students, a slight decrease of 0.63% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, enrollment in accredited nonpublic schools grew by nearly 10%, reaching 39,356 students, up from 36,195. This increase was partially driven by the Students First Education Savings (ESA) program, with 27,866 students utilizing ESAs at nonpublic schools.

Rank	School name	School district	Total enrollment in 2022-23	Total enrollment in 2023-24	% change
1	Central Decatur Middle School/High School High School	Central Decatur Comm	348	321	-7.8%
2	North Elementary School	Central Decatur Comm	172	176	2.3%
3	Lamoni Elementary School	Lamoni Comm	174	160	-8%
4	South Elementary School	Central Decatur Comm	126	134	6.3%
5	Mormon Trail Junior-Senior High School	Mormon Trail Comm	96	106	10.4%
6	Lamoni High School	Lamoni Comm	98	81	-17.3%
7	Lamoni Middle School	Lamoni Comm	70	65	-7.1%