Chambana Sun

School administrators within Vermilion County reportedly handed out 2,731 suspensions and 10 expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 2,751 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 2,741 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.3 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 10 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for two incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, four incidents involving violence without physical injury, and an incident involving drugs.

Among the 32 schools in the county, North Ridge Middle School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 474—or 17.2% 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 197 recorded cases. There were also 21 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 817 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 1,911 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 830 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Vermilion County schools, 2,199 involved elementary or middle school students, while 532 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 821 cases reported. Additionally, 548 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 62.3% of the student body in Vermilion County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 1,129 suspensions and six expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (41.4% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Black students, who made up 20.1% of the student body, and received 1,035 suspensions and were expelled twice (37.8%).

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	1	1	-
Violence with injury	21	117	2
Violence without injury	197	821	4
Drug offenses	2	106	1
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	2	11	-
Tobacco	10	77	-
Other reason	817	548	3
Total	1,050	1,681	10

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	368	31
1-2 days	536	436
2-3 days	118	436
3-4 days	22	376
4-10 days	5	291
More than 10 days	1	111