Peoria Standard

Dunlap Community Unit School District 323 reported 300 suspensions and an expulsion just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 301 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 6.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving a firearm.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 41 recorded cases. There were also three incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 121 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 234 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 67 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 190 involved elementary or middle school students, while 110 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 55 cases reported. Additionally, 41 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 58.1% of the Dunlap Community Unit School District 323 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 131 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 8.1% of the student body, and received 113 suspensions.

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	-	2	-
Violence with injury	3	26	-
Violence without injury	41	55	-
Drug offenses	-	3	-
Firearm	-	1	1
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	1	6	-
Other reason	121	41	-
Total	166	134	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	21	-
1-2 days	64	30
2-3 days	15	22
3-4 days	65	68
4-10 days	1	12
More than 10 days	-	2