South Central Reporter

Vandalia Community Unit School District 203 reported 14 suspensions and an expulsion during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 15 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 1 incident 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 two recorded cases. There were also two incidents involving drugs and tobacco. Additionally, three cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 13 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another two incidents involved female students.

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

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with three cases reported.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 91.8% of the Vandalia Community Unit School District 203 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 13 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 6.1% of the student body, and received one suspension.

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	-
Violence without injury	2	2	-
Drug offenses	1	1	-
Firearm	-	1	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	1	-	-
Other reason	3	-	1
Total	7	7	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	5	3
2-3 days	1	1
3-4 days	1	1
4-10 days	-	1
More than 10 days	-	1