Chambana Sun

Rantoul City School District 137 reported 937 suspensions and an expulsion just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 938 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 55.7 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving violence without physical injury.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 196 recorded cases. There were also 13 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 272 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 661 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 277 incidents involved female students.

All 937 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 275 cases reported. Additionally, 129 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 29.6% of the Rantoul City School District 137 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 484 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 34.6% of the student body, and received 183 suspensions.

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.

Type of Incident	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension	Expelled
Alcohol	-	-	-
Violence with injury	13	26	-
Violence without injury	196	275	1
Drug offenses	-	-	-
Firearm	-	1	-
Other dangerous weapons	1	12	-
Tobacco	3	9	-
Other reason	272	129	-
Total	485	452	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	154	99
1-2 days	209	219
2-3 days	14	77
3-4 days	106	30
4-10 days	2	26
More than 10 days	-	1