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Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Alexander County students suspended 312 times solely in 2023-24 school year

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Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | firststudentinc.com

Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | firststudentinc.com

School administrators within Alexander County reportedly handed out 312 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 312 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.5 actions per student in the county.

Among the five schools in the county, Egyptian Senior High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 103—or 33% of all incidents countywide.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 18 recorded cases. There were also 13 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 199 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 240 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 72 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Alexander County schools, 166 involved elementary or middle school students, while 146 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with three cases reported. Additionally, 73 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 46.3% of the student body in Alexander County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 165 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (52.9% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Black students, who made up 40.3% of the student body, and received 93 suspensions (29.8%).

Some schools or districts may not publish complete disciplinary data due to privacy protections or reporting limitations, which could affect the totals.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school 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.

Alexander County Student Discipline Report in 2023-24 School Year
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury13
Violence without injury181
Drug offenses-2
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons2-
Tobacco13-
Other reason19973
Total23379
Length of Suspensions in Alexander County in 2023-24 School Year
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less--
1-2 days20312
2-3 days1911
3-4 days1018
4-10 days128
More than 10 days-10

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