Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | linkedin.com
Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | linkedin.com
In total, there were 1,993 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 7.7 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.
Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 334 recorded cases. There were also 55 incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 647 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.
There were 1,414 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 579 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the district, 1,165 involved elementary or middle school students, while 828 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 415 cases reported. Additionally, 300 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.
In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 9.4% of the Indian Prairie School District 204 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 824 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 32.5% of the student body, and received 486 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 | 15 | 19 |
| Violence with injury | 1 | 1 |
| Violence without injury | 334 | 415 |
| Drug offenses | 55 | 109 |
| Firearm | - | - |
| Other dangerous weapons | 8 | 7 |
| Tobacco | 54 | 28 |
| Other reason | 647 | 300 |
| Total | 1,114 | 879 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 198 | 42 |
| 1-2 days | 856 | 449 |
| 2-3 days | 57 | 171 |
| 3-4 days | 2 | 133 |
| 4-10 days | 1 | 56 |
| More than 10 days | - | 28 |
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