Chambana Sun

Champaign Community Unit School District 4 reported 1,908 suspensions and three expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 2,419 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 1,911 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 18.6 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional 508 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for two incidents involving violence without physical injury and an incident involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 38 recorded cases. There were also two incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 219 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 1,334 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 51 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 1,579 involved elementary or middle school students, while 329 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 838 cases reported. Additionally, 734 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 37.4% of the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 1,387 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 29.7% of the student body, and received 196 suspensions and were expelled once.

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	-	-	-
Violence without injury	38	838	2
Drug offenses	-	33	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	2	31	1
Tobacco	1	12	-
Other reason	219	734	-
Total	260	1,648	3

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	8	15
1-2 days	237	942
2-3 days	13	427
3-4 days	1	226
4-10 days	-	35
More than 10 days	1	3