Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage High School District 88 reported 1,031 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 1,038 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 1,031 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 27.8 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional seven cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving tobacco, with 29 recorded cases. There were also 16 incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 763 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 704 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 327 incidents involved female students.

All 1,031 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 46 cases reported. Additionally, 96 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 52.3% of the DuPage High School District 88 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 558 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 33.2% of the student body, and received 197 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	-	5
Violence with injury	1	10
Violence without injury	13	46
Drug offenses	16	39
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	1
Tobacco	29	12
Other reason	763	96
Total	822	209

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	746	104
2-3 days	74	48
3-4 days	2	48
4-10 days	-	8
More than 10 days	-	1