Kankakee Times

School administrators within Kankakee County reportedly handed out 3,043 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 3,122 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 3,043 were suspensions representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 79 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among the 34 schools in the county, Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 941—or 30.1% 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 295 recorded cases. There were also 48 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 1,587 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 1,984 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 1,059 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Kankakee County schools, 1,528 involved elementary or middle school students, while 1,515 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 374 cases reported. Additionally, 404 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 19.9% of the student body in Kankakee County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 1,315 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (43.2% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by white students, who made up 52.9% of the student body, and received 922 suspensions (30.3%).

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
Alcohol	3	5
Violence with injury	48	145
Violence without injury	295	374
Drug offenses	24	60
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	4	9
Tobacco	32	53
Other reason	1,587	404
Total	1,993	1,050

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	293	35
1-2 days	1,405	363
2-3 days	224	240
3-4 days	56	243
4-10 days	15	102
More than 10 days	-	67