Southern Illinois News

Buncombe Consolidated School District 43 reported four suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were four disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the district.

Among in-school suspensions all cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

Only male students were subject to disciplinary actions, a rate of approximately 1.5 incidents per 10 male students.

All four suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

All of the students suspended during the 2023-24 school year in Buncombe Consolidated School District 43 were white, who made up 91.2% of the district’s student population.

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	3	1
Total	3	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	3	1
2-3 days	-	-
3-4 days	-	-
4-10 days	-	-
More than 10 days	-	-