Dupage Policy Journal

Black students, constituting 5.2% or 12 of Belle Aire Elementary School's total student population of 232, accounted for two out of the six total suspensions (33.3%) in the 2021-22 school year, averaging one suspension per six students, according to the latest student discipline report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

During the same period, Belle Aire Elementary School's 165 white students, who make up 71.1% of the school population, received one suspension. This translates to an average of one suspension per 165 white students, which is definitively lower than that of Black students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.

Of the six total suspensions at Belle Aire Elementary School in the 2021-22 school year, five were in-school suspensions and one out-of-school suspension.

In addition, 36 students, or 15.7% of the student population, fell into the chronically absent category, a broader measure that includes all absences, excused or not.

Black students were notably overrepresented in these statistics, comprising 55.6% of all students who were chronically absent.

In a broader context, data from the ProPublica database indicates that Black students are suspended at a rate 4.6 times higher than white students in Illinois—surpassing the already high national average rate of 3.9 times.

However, districts’ officials deny a direct link between these statistics and race. Lisa Small, the Superintendent of District 211, argues that these numbers oversimplify the situation. “Decisions are highly individualized and based on the specific behavior and are not well-suited to a simple numerical analysis,” she wrote in a statement. “They are not a statistic to us, but a developing young adult.”

Illinois ranks 12th in the nation for the highest rate of suspensions among Black students relative to their white peers.

Race	Number of Students	Total Infractions	Infractions Per Student
Black	12	2	0.17
White	165	1	0.01