Peoria Standard

Morton Community Unit School District 709 reported 194 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 198 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 194 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 6 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.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving tobacco, with nine recorded cases. There were also seven incidents involving violence without physical injury. Additionally, 90 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 147 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 47 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 105 involved elementary or middle school students, while 89 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 19 cases reported. Additionally, 35 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 88.5% of the Morton Community Unit School District 709 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 150 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.4% of the student body, and received 21 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
Alcohol	1	2
Violence with injury	6	13
Violence without injury	7	19
Drug offenses	-	4
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	2
Tobacco	9	6
Other reason	90	35
Total	113	81

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	1	9
1-2 days	102	39
2-3 days	7	11
3-4 days	2	13
4-10 days	1	9
More than 10 days	-	-