East Central Reporter

Mattoon Community Unit School District 2 reported 1,136 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 1,136 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 37.8 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 violence that caused physical injury, with 43 recorded cases. There were also seven incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 839 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 868 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 268 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 907 involved elementary or middle school students, while 229 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with 65 cases reported. Additionally, 136 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 80.2% of the Mattoon Community Unit School District 2 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 834 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 7.9% of the student body, and received 144 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	-	1
Violence with injury	43	65
Violence without injury	-	-
Drug offenses	1	34
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	1	9
Tobacco	7	-
Other reason	839	136
Total	891	245

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	399	18
1-2 days	402	74
2-3 days	61	36
3-4 days	24	76
4-10 days	5	41
More than 10 days	-	-