Sangamon Sun

School administrators within Sangamon County reportedly handed out 7,652 suspensions and 33 expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 7,687 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 7,685 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.3 actions per student in the county. There were an additional two cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for 21 incidents involving violence without physical injury, an incident involving drugs, and an incident involving a firearm.

Among the 65 schools in the county, Lanphier High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 2,855—or 37.1% 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 64 recorded cases. There were also 58 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 4,930 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 4,896 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 2,673 incidents involved female students, while the two non-binary students were involved in three incidents.

Of all suspensions issued in the Sangamon County schools, 2,825 involved elementary or middle school students, while 4,801 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 951 cases reported. Additionally, 1,262 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 22.3% of the student body in Sangamon County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 4,363 suspensions and 23 expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (57.1% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by white students, who made up 62.7% of the student body, and received 2,087 suspensions and were expelled five times (27.2%).

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	-	10	-
Violence with injury	21	111	-
Violence without injury	64	951	21
Drug offenses	3	171	1
Firearm	-	5	1
Other dangerous weapons	1	21	-
Tobacco	58	44	-
Other reason	4,930	1,262	10
Total	5,077	2,575	33

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	2,660	17
1-2 days	2,187	757
2-3 days	183	613
3-4 days	39	709
4-10 days	8	299
More than 10 days	-	180