South Central Reporter

School administrators within Christian County reportedly handed out 744 suspensions and two expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 754 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 746 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county. There were an additional eight cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence without physical injury.

Among the 18 schools in the county, Taylorville Junior High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 214—or 28.4% 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 68 recorded cases. There were also 54 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 432 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 517 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 229 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Christian County schools, 406 involved elementary or middle school students, while 338 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 39 cases reported. Additionally, 82 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 92.8% of the student body in Christian County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 574 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (77.1% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 2.8% of the student body, and received 30 suspensions and were expelled once (4.2%).

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	-	-	-
Violence with injury	27	14	-
Violence without injury	68	39	1
Drug offenses	7	9	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	54	12	-
Other reason	432	82	1
Total	588	156	2

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	71	11
1-2 days	355	48
2-3 days	51	29
3-4 days	91	45
4-10 days	16	18
More than 10 days	4	5