Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter
Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter
In total, there were 283 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 282 were suspensions representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.
Among the eight schools in the county, Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 81—or 28.6% of all incidents countywide.
The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving drugs, with 13 recorded cases. There were also 12 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury and tobacco. Additionally, 61 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.
There were 230 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 52 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the Ford County schools, 202 involved elementary or middle school students, while 80 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 24 cases reported. Additionally, 143 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 83.9% of the student body in Ford County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 207 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (73.4% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 9.2% of the student body, and received 23 suspensions (8.2%).
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | - | 3 |
| Violence with injury | 6 | 7 |
| Violence without injury | 5 | 3 |
| Drug offenses | 13 | 24 |
| Firearm | - | - |
| Other dangerous weapons | - | 3 |
| Tobacco | 6 | 8 |
| Other reason | 61 | 143 |
| Total | 91 | 191 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 6 | 1 |
| 1-2 days | 60 | 48 |
| 2-3 days | 16 | 61 |
| 3-4 days | 6 | 51 |
| 4-10 days | 3 | 26 |
| More than 10 days | - | 4 |
Alerts Sign-up