Chambana Sun

School administrators within Piatt County reportedly handed out 164 suspensions and an expulsion solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 165 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

Among the 14 schools in the county, Monticello Middle School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 43—or 26.1% 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 11 recorded cases. There were also eight incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 39 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 143 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 22 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Piatt County schools, 126 involved elementary or middle school students, while 38 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 14 cases reported. Additionally, 55 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 92.5% of the Piatt County schools student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 120 suspensionsand one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (73.3% of all disciplinary actions).

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	-	3	-
Violence with injury	2	13	-
Violence without injury	11	14	-
Drug offenses	-	8	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	4	1
Tobacco	8	7	-
Other reason	39	55	-
Total	60	104	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	3	7
1-2 days	44	40
2-3 days	7	22
3-4 days	3	15
4-10 days	3	13
More than 10 days	-	7