School administrators within Richland County reportedly handed out 200 suspensions and seven expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 208 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 207 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.
The expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence that caused physical injury and four incidents involving drugs.
Among the three schools in the county, Richland County High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 110—or 52.9% of all incidents countywide.
The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving tobacco, with 10 recorded cases. There were also two incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 68 cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
There were 166 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 41 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the Richland County schools, 93 involved elementary or middle school students, while 107 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving tobacco, with 27 cases reported. Additionally, 85 cases were classified under the “other reason” category.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 91% of the student body in Richland County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 178 suspensions and five expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (88.4% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 4.3% of the student body, and received six suspensions and were expelled twice (3.9%).
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.
| Type of Incident | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension | Expelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | – | 1 | – |
| Violence with injury | – | 1 | 1 |
| Violence without injury | – | – | – |
| Drug offenses | – | 6 | 4 |
| Firearm | – | – | – |
| Other dangerous weapons | 2 | – | – |
| Tobacco | 10 | 27 | – |
| Other reason | 68 | 85 | 2 |
| Total | 80 | 120 | 7 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 14 | 3 |
| 1-2 days | 38 | 21 |
| 2-3 days | 16 | 23 |
| 3-4 days | 12 | 30 |
| 4-10 days | – | 30 |
| More than 10 days | – | 13 |
