East Central Reporter

School administrators within Effingham County reportedly handed out 222 suspensions and four expulsions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 228 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 226 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of less than 0.1 actions per student in the county. There were an additional two cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for an incident involving alcohol and tobacco and two incidents involving drugs.

Among the 14 schools in the county, Effingham High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 54—or 23.7% 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 10 recorded cases. There were also seven incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 50 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 167 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 59 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Effingham County schools, 122 involved elementary or middle school students, while 100 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 19 cases reported. Additionally, 77 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 92% of the student body in Effingham County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 112 suspensions and four expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (51.3% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 3.1% of the student body, and received three suspensions (1.3%).

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	-	11	-
Violence with injury	-	17	-
Violence without injury	10	19	-
Drug offenses	-	13	2
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	1	-
Tobacco	7	17	1
Other reason	50	77	1
Total	67	155	4

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	2
1-2 days	49	34
2-3 days	15	27
3-4 days	1	62
4-10 days	2	25
More than 10 days	-	5