Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter
Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter
In total, there were 743 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 12.1 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.
The expulsions were issued for two incidents involving violence without physical injury.
Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 79 recorded cases. There were also 76 incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 274 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.
There were 528 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 215 incidents involved female students.
All 740 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 76 cases reported. Additionally, 62 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.
In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 26% of the Maine Township High School District 207 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 328 suspensions and two expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 54.3% of the student body, and received 252 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 | 9 | 11 | - |
| Violence with injury | 1 | 2 | - |
| Violence without injury | 79 | 67 | 2 |
| Drug offenses | 76 | 76 | - |
| Firearm | - | - | - |
| Other dangerous weapons | 7 | 7 | - |
| Tobacco | 67 | 2 | - |
| Other reason | 274 | 62 | 1 |
| Total | 513 | 227 | 3 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 32 | 6 |
| 1-2 days | 450 | 107 |
| 2-3 days | 30 | 58 |
| 3-4 days | 1 | 21 |
| 4-10 days | - | 19 |
| More than 10 days | - | 16 |
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