Kankakee Times

School administrators within Iroquois County reportedly handed out 373 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 373 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county.

Among the 20 schools in the county, Watseka Junior High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 108—or 29% 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 20 recorded cases. There were also four incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 152 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 252 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 121 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Iroquois County schools, 227 involved elementary or middle school students, while 146 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 63 cases reported. Additionally, 96 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 80.3% of the student body in Iroquois County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 248 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (66.5% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 13.5% of the student body, and received 56 suspensions (15%).

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	2	14
Violence without injury	20	63
Drug offenses	4	6
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	3
Tobacco	3	10
Other reason	152	96
Total	181	192

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	18	10
1-2 days	138	70
2-3 days	22	37
3-4 days	3	53
4-10 days	-	22
More than 10 days	-	-