Vice Chair of the Board Dr. Donna S. Leak (2023) | Illinois State Board of education
Vice Chair of the Board Dr. Donna S. Leak (2023) | Illinois State Board of education
During the same period, Bartonville Elementary School's 219 white students, who make up 79.9% of the school population, received one suspension. This translates to an average of one suspension per 219 white students, which is definitively lower than that of Black students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.
Of the two total suspensions at Bartonville Elementary School in the 2021-22 school year, both were out-of-school suspensions.
According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, both student suspensions at Bartonville Elementary School were for violence-related offenses.
The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying two cases - 100% of the total infractions.
In addition, 140 students, or 51.1% of the student population, fell into the chronically absent category, a broader measure that includes all absences, excused or not.
Black students were notably overrepresented in these statistics, comprising 75% of all students who were chronically absent.
In a broader context, data from the ProPublica database indicates that Black students are suspended at a rate 4.6 times higher than white students in Illinois—surpassing the already high national average rate of 3.9 times.
However, districts’ officials deny a direct link between these statistics and race. Lisa Small, the Superintendent of District 211, argues that these numbers oversimplify the situation. “Decisions are highly individualized and based on the specific behavior and are not well-suited to a simple numerical analysis,” she wrote in a statement. “They are not a statistic to us, but a developing young adult.”
Illinois ranks 12th in the nation for the highest rate of suspensions among Black students relative to their white peers.
| Race | Number of Students | Total Infractions | Infractions Per Student |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 25 | 1 | 0.04 |
| White | 219 | 1 | 0 |
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