Peoria Standard

Canton Union School District 66 reported 473 suspensions and two expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 479 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 475 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 23.1 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional four cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for .

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 36 recorded cases. There were also 20 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 110 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 374 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 101 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 320 involved elementary or middle school students, while 153 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 134 cases reported. Additionally, 128 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 90.8% of the Canton Union School District 66 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 373 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 4.3% of the student body, and received 57 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	-	16	-
Violence without injury	36	134	-
Drug offenses	-	14	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	2	-
Tobacco	20	13	-
Other reason	110	128	2
Total	166	307	2

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	53	45
1-2 days	60	106
2-3 days	22	51
3-4 days	28	69
4-10 days	3	27
More than 10 days	-	9