Mark R. Cross Superintendent at Cass School District 63 | Official Website
Mark R. Cross Superintendent at Cass School District 63 | Official Website
In total, there were seven disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 0.9 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.
There were four disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another three incidents involved female students.
All seven suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 63.6% of the Cass School District 63 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with four suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 12.9% of the student body, and received two suspensions.
Illinois has approved a 2025 budget that allocates $8.6 billion to K-12 education, a $350 million increase from the previous fiscal year—the minimum required under the state funding formula.
In 2024, Illinois registered a teacher retention rate of almost 90%. Yet, around 91% of superintendents reported having a 'serious' problem teacher shortage problem. In total, almost 4,100 teaching positions remained vacant by the end of the year.
“They’re putting a substitute in there, that’s somebody with a four-year degree that’s not in teaching. They’re using a retired teacher…or worse than that, they’re canceling the class, putting the kids in other classrooms, putting them in study hall, but those are strategies we have to use if there’s no qualified teacher,” said Beth Crider, regional superintendent of Peoria County Regional Office of Education #48.
| Type of Incident | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | - | - |
| Violence with injury | - | - |
| Violence without injury | - | - |
| Drug offenses | - | - |
| Firearm | - | - |
| Other dangerous weapons | - | - |
| Tobacco | - | - |
| Other reason | - | 7 |
| Total | - | 7 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | - | - |
| 1-2 days | - | - |
| 2-3 days | - | - |
| 3-4 days | - | - |
| 4-10 days | - | 4 |
| More than 10 days | - | 3 |
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