Lima Reporter

There were 94 Hispanic students enrolled in Mercer County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 9.6% less than the previous year, according to reports from the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce.

Data showed that Mercer County welcomed 7,585 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, Hispanic students comprised 1.2% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 19 schools in Mercer County, Celina High School recorded the highest enrollment of Hispanic students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 28 students.

In 2022, Ohio saw an average student-to-teacher ratio of approximately 1:15, which is an improvement for the state and is lower than the national average of 1:16.

Despite the apparent improvement, this positive trend is overshadowed by a general decline in public school enrollments, which was accelerated by the pandemic. This decline, aligned with the steady number of teachers in the state over the last 10 years, has led to low student-to-teacher ratios.

School name	% of Hispanic students enrolment	Total enrollment
Celina High School	3.8	735
Celina Primary School	4.1	532
Celina Middle School	4.6	370
Fort Recovery Elementary School	2.7	512
Celina Elementary School	3.7	348
Marion Local Elementary School	0	673
Coldwater Elementary School	0	634
St. Henry Elementary School	0	470
Parkway Elementary School	0	404
Coldwater High School	0	332
St. Henry Middle School	0	287
Parkway Middle School	0	293
Fort Recovery High School	0	273
Parkway High School	0	272
St. Henry High School	0	257
Marion Local High School	0	237
Fort Recovery Middle School	0	187
Coldwater Middle School	0	425
Celina Intermediate Elementary School	0	344