East Central Reporter

School administrators within Crawford County reportedly handed out 118 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 118 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of less than 0.1 actions per student in the county.

Among the 10 schools in the county, Nuttall Middle School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 28—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 tobacco, with 14 recorded cases. There were also 13 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 27 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 92 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 26 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Crawford County schools, 77 involved elementary or middle school students, while 41 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 15 cases reported. Additionally, 22 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

All of the students suspended during the 2023-24 school year in Crawford County schools were white, who made up 93.1% of the county's student population.

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
Alcohol	-	-
Violence with injury	13	10
Violence without injury	10	15
Drug offenses	-	1
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	4	-
Tobacco	14	2
Other reason	27	22
Total	68	50

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	7	1
1-2 days	43	19
2-3 days	11	11
3-4 days	4	6
4-10 days	3	10
More than 10 days	-	3