Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website
Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website
In total, there were 2,966 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 2,965 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 45.4 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 three incidents involving violence that caused physical injury.
Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving drugs and tobacco, with 120 recorded cases. There were also 18 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 1,845 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.
There were 1,856 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another two incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the district, 1,492 involved elementary or middle school students, while 1,470 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 75 cases reported. Additionally, 838 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.
In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 27.5% of the DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 1,498 suspensions and three expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 31.4% of the student body, and received 677 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 | Expelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | - | - | - |
| Violence with injury | 18 | 24 | 3 |
| Violence without injury | 3 | 3 | - |
| Drug offenses | 60 | 75 | - |
| Firearm | - | 4 | - |
| Other dangerous weapons | 3 | 10 | - |
| Tobacco | 60 | 19 | - |
| Other reason | 1,845 | 838 | - |
| Total | 1,989 | 973 | 3 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 473 | 55 |
| 1-2 days | 1,277 | 418 |
| 2-3 days | 196 | 194 |
| 3-4 days | 40 | 138 |
| 4-10 days | 3 | 126 |
| More than 10 days | - | 42 |
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