Kane County Reporter

School administrators within Kane County reportedly handed out 12,541 suspensions and four expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 12,564 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 12,545 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 19 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence that caused physical injury, an incident involving drugs, and an incident involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

Among the 122 schools in the county, Larkin High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 2,091—or 16.6% 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 769 recorded cases. There were also 366 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 7,553 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 8,625 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 3,869 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Kane County schools, 5,649 involved elementary or middle school students, while 6,892 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 1,054 cases reported. Additionally, 1,300 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 45.9% of the student body in Kane County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 6,969 suspensions and two expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (55.6% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by white students, who made up 40.1% of the student body, and received 2,678 suspensions (21.3%).

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	Expelled
Alcohol	47	55	-
Violence with injury	168	360	1
Violence without injury	769	1,054	-
Drug offenses	327	355	1
Firearm	3	2	-
Other dangerous weapons	38	70	1
Tobacco	366	74	-
Other reason	7,553	1,300	1
Total	9,271	3,270	4

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	3,486	199
1-2 days	4,833	1,285
2-3 days	732	734
3-4 days	162	717
4-10 days	57	198
More than 10 days	1	137