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South Central Reporter

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Discipline Report: Suspensions and an expulsion in Fayette County schools totaled 63 in 2023-24 school year

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Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

School administrators within Fayette County reportedly handed out 62 suspensions and an expulsion during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 63 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of less than 0.1 actions per student in the county.

Among the 12 schools in the county, Brownstown Junior High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 16—or 25.4% 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 seven recorded cases. There were also three incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, tobacco, and drugs. Additionally, 12 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 54 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another nine incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Fayette County schools, 28 involved elementary or middle school students, while 34 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving tobacco, with 15 cases reported. Additionally, eight cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 94.5% of the student body in Fayette County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 61 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (98.4% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.1% of the student body, and received one suspension (1.6%).

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.

Fayette County Student Discipline Report in 2023-24 School Year
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School SuspensionExpelled
Alcohol-1-
Violence with injury16-
Violence without injury76-
Drug offenses13-
Firearm-1-
Other dangerous weapons---
Tobacco115-
Other reason1281
Total22401
Length of Suspensions in Fayette County in 2023-24 School Year
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less--
1-2 days2012
2-3 days16
3-4 days113
4-10 days-8
More than 10 days-1

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