Peoria Standard

Farmington Central Community Unit School District 265 reported 176 suspensions and two expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 178 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 14.4 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

The expulsions were issued for two incidents involving drugs.

Among in-school suspension where a reason was specified, the only case was given for incident involving tobacco. Additionally, 65 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 117 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 61 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 101 involved elementary or middle school students, while 75 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving tobacco, with 37 cases reported. Additionally, 37 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 92.6% of the Farmington Central Community Unit School District 265 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 171 suspensions and two expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.7% of the student body, and received four 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	-	5	-
Violence with injury	-	14	-
Violence without injury	-	4	-
Drug offenses	-	13	2
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	1	37	-
Other reason	65	37	-
Total	66	110	2

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	13	2
1-2 days	39	16
2-3 days	14	50
3-4 days	-	26
4-10 days	-	14
More than 10 days	-	2