Pope County Community Unit School District 1 reported 67 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 67 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 14.4 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 tobacco and violence without physical injury, with 10 recorded cases. Additionally, 21 cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
There were 46 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 21 incidents involved female students.
All 67 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 18 cases reported. Additionally, eight cases were classified under the “other reason” category.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 93.6% of the Pope County Community Unit School District 1 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 63 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 2.8% 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 | – | 10 |
| Violence without injury | 5 | 18 |
| Drug offenses | – | – |
| Firearm | – | – |
| Other dangerous weapons | – | – |
| Tobacco | 5 | – |
| Other reason | 21 | 8 |
| Total | 31 | 36 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | – | 5 |
| 1-2 days | 29 | 14 |
| 2-3 days | 2 | 7 |
| 3-4 days | – | 9 |
| 4-10 days | – | 1 |
| More than 10 days | – | – |
