South Central Reporter

Pana Community Unit School District 8 reported 324 suspensions and an expulsion just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 332 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 325 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 28.9 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional seven cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving violence without physical injury.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving tobacco and violence without physical injury, with 20 recorded cases. Additionally, 238 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 233 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 92 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 114 involved elementary or middle school students, while 210 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 16 cases reported. Additionally, 33 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 94.5% of the Pana Community Unit School District 8 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 289 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.1% of the student body, and received 18 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	Expelled
Alcohol	-	-	-
Violence with injury	-	2	-
Violence without injury	10	16	1
Drug offenses	-	3	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	10	12	-
Other reason	238	33	-
Total	258	66	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	201	17
2-3 days	17	11
3-4 days	33	23
4-10 days	6	10
More than 10 days	1	5