Kane County Reporter

School District U-46 reported 10,955 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 10,961 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 10,955 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 32.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional six cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 337 recorded cases. There were also 249 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 7,369 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 7,500 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 2,643 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 2,761 involved elementary or middle school students, while 8,194 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 734 cases reported. Additionally, 1,284 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 57.9% of the School District U-46 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 7,091 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 6.3% of the student body, and received 1,873 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	58	49
Violence with injury	109	264
Violence without injury	337	734
Drug offenses	239	120
Firearm	7	9
Other dangerous weapons	20	53
Tobacco	249	54
Other reason	7,369	1,284
Total	8,388	2,567

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	4,061	112
1-2 days	3,767	1,327
2-3 days	389	473
3-4 days	112	561
4-10 days	59	86
More than 10 days	-	8