Peoria Standard

Limestone Community High School District 310 reported 230 suspensions and 11 expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 243 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 241 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 27.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional two cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for seven incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, an incident involving violence without physical injury, and three incidents involving drugs.

There were 158 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 83 incidents involved female students.

All 230 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with 52 cases reported. Additionally, 153 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 70.8% of the Limestone Community High School District 310 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 97 suspensions and six expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 11.7% of the student body, and received 66 suspensions and were expelled three times.

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	-	52	7
Violence without injury	-	12	1
Drug offenses	-	13	3
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	-	-	-
Other reason	-	153	-
Total	-	230	11

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	-	65
2-3 days	-	77
3-4 days	-	19
4-10 days	-	63
More than 10 days	-	6