South Central Reporter

Wesclin Community Unit School District 3 reported 173 suspensions and an expulsion just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 174 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 13.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

The expulsion was issued for .

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 42 recorded cases. There were also three incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 63 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 141 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 33 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 143 involved elementary or middle school students, while 30 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 33 cases reported. Additionally, 20 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 85.8% of the Wesclin Community Unit School District 3 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 150 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 4.2% of the student body, and received 15 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	3	4	-
Violence without injury	42	33	-
Drug offenses	-	1	-
Firearm	1	1	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	-	5	-
Other reason	63	20	1
Total	109	64	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	17	6
1-2 days	76	27
2-3 days	15	15
3-4 days	1	9
4-10 days	-	6
More than 10 days	-	1