Metro East Sun

Multiracial students, constituting 4.1% or 19 of Albert Cassens Elementary's total student population of 463, accounted for seven out of the 18 total suspensions (38.9%) in the 2021-22 school year, averaging roughly one suspension per three students, according to the latest student discipline report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

During the same period, Albert Cassens Elementary's 356 white students, who make up 76.9% of the school population, received eight suspensions. This translates to an average of roughly one suspension per 45 white students, which is definitively lower than that of multiracial students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.

Of the 18 total suspensions at Albert Cassens Elementary in the 2021-22 school year, 10 were in-school suspensions and eight out-of-school suspensions.

According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, nine student suspensions at Albert Cassens Elementary were for violence-related offenses.

The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying nine cases - 50% of the total infractions.

In addition, 52 students, or 11.3% of the student population, fell into the chronically absent category, a broader measure that includes all absences, excused or not.

In a broader context, data from the ProPublica database indicates that Black students are suspended at a rate 4.6 times higher than white students in Illinois—surpassing the already high national average rate of 3.9 times.

However, districts’ officials deny a direct link between these statistics and race. Lisa Small, the Superintendent of District 211, argues that these numbers oversimplify the situation. “Decisions are highly individualized and based on the specific behavior and are not well-suited to a simple numerical analysis,” she wrote in a statement. “They are not a statistic to us, but a developing young adult.”

Illinois ranks 12th in the nation for the highest rate of suspensions among Black students relative to their white peers.

Race	Number of Students	Total Infractions	Infractions Per Student
Hispanic	18	1	0.06
Black	50	2	0.04
Multiracial	19	7	0.37
White	356	8	0.02