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Saturday, July 26, 2025

Community Unit School District 16 reports 24 incidents of students being suspended in 2023-24 school year

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Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | solutiontree.com

Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | solutiontree.com

Community Unit School District 16 reported 24 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 24 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 2.8 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving tobacco, with nine recorded cases. There were also five incidents involving violence that caused physical injury.

There were 20 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another four incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 13 involved elementary or middle school students, while 11 involved high school students.

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

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 92.5% of the Community Unit School District 16 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 23 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.8% 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.

Community Unit School District 16 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury55
Violence without injury31
Drug offenses--
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons--
Tobacco91
Other reason--
Total177
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less2-
1-2 days154
2-3 days-2
3-4 days-1
4-10 days--
More than 10 days--

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