East Central Reporter

East Richland Community Unit School District 1 reported 200 suspensions and seven expulsions just 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 a rate of approximately 9.6 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. 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 in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was 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 district, 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 91.3% of the East Richland Community Unit School District 1 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 178 suspensionsand five expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year.

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	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