Niles Elementary School District 71 reported 12 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 13 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 12 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 1.9 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There was an additional case of a student 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 violence without physical injury, with seven recorded cases. There was also one incident involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, three cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
Boys and girls were involved in the same number of disciplinary actions, with each group accounting for six incidents.
All 12 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.
The only out-of-school suspension was for incident involving violence without physical injury.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 51.7% of the Niles Elementary School District 71 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with nine suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 4.9% of the student body, and received two 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 | – | – |
| Violence with injury | 1 | – |
| Violence without injury | 7 | 1 |
| Drug offenses | – | – |
| Firearm | – | – |
| Other dangerous weapons | – | – |
| Tobacco | – | – |
| Other reason | 3 | – |
| Total | 11 | 1 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 10 | – |
| 1-2 days | – | – |
| 2-3 days | 1 | – |
| 3-4 days | – | – |
| 4-10 days | – | – |
| More than 10 days | – | 1 |
