South Central Reporter

School administrators within Macoupin County reportedly handed out 809 suspensions and three expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 813 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 812 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence that caused physical injury and an incident involving drugs.

Among the 26 schools in the county, Gillespie High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 213—or 26.2% 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 57 recorded cases. There were also 27 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 389 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 584 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 228 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Macoupin County schools, 356 involved elementary or middle school students, while 453 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 67 cases reported. Additionally, 137 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 93.7% of the student body in Macoupin County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 485 suspensions and three expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (60.1% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 1.8% of the student body, and received five suspensions (0.6%).

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	1	1	-
Violence with injury	12	30	1
Violence without injury	57	67	-
Drug offenses	7	53	1
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	2	8	-
Tobacco	27	18	-
Other reason	389	137	1
Total	495	314	3

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	96	13
1-2 days	288	97
2-3 days	83	90
3-4 days	25	72
4-10 days	3	30
More than 10 days	-	12