Peoria Standard

School administrators within Mason County reportedly handed out 160 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 160 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county.

Among the seven schools in the county, Havana High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 50—or 31.3% of all incidents countywide.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with four recorded cases. There were also two incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 66 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 115 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 45 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Mason County schools, 52 involved elementary or middle school students, while 108 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 15 cases reported. Additionally, 57 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

All of the students suspended during the 2023-24 school year in Mason County schools were white, who made up 94.2% of the county's student population.

Some schools or districts may not publish complete disciplinary data due to privacy protections or reporting limitations, which could affect the totals.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school 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	-	-
Violence with injury	-	1
Violence without injury	4	15
Drug offenses	2	4
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-
Tobacco	-	11
Other reason	66	57
Total	72	88

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	10	9
1-2 days	61	36
2-3 days	1	17
3-4 days	-	11
4-10 days	-	14
More than 10 days	-	1