Kane County Reporter

St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 reported 914 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 914 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 7.9 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 117 recorded cases. There were also 73 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 440 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 743 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 171 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 399 involved elementary or middle school students, while 515 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 59 cases reported. Additionally, 102 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 71.1% of the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 542 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 14.5% of the student body, and received 250 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
Alcohol	9	4
Violence with injury	3	2
Violence without injury	117	59
Drug offenses	49	46
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-
Tobacco	73	10
Other reason	440	102
Total	691	223

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	166	11
1-2 days	499	114
2-3 days	26	78
3-4 days	-	17
4-10 days	-	3
More than 10 days	-	-