Report: At Belle Valley School, Hispanic student rule-breaking rate notably exceeds that of Black students

Chief Education Officer Jason Helfer (2023) | Illinois State Board of education

By Metro East Sun

Dec 16, 2023

Hispanic students, constituting 4.7% or 46 of Belle Valley School's total student population of 980, accounted for five out of the nine total suspensions (55.6%) in the 2021-22 school year, averaging roughly one suspension per nine students, according to the latest student discipline report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

During the same period, Belle Valley School's 559 Black students, who make up 57% of the school population, received four suspensions. This translates to an average of roughly one suspension per 140 Black students, which is definitively lower than that of Hispanic students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.

Of the nine total suspensions at Belle Valley School in the 2021-22 school year, five were in-school suspensions and four out-of-school suspensions.

During the 2021-22 school year, Belle Valley School reported 227 students - equivalent to 23.2% of its student body - as chronically truant, meaning they had a repeated pattern of unexcused lateness or missing classes. In addition, 406 students, or 41.4% of the student population, fell into the chronically absent category, a broader measure that includes all absences, excused or not.

Hispanic students were notably overrepresented in these statistics, comprising 41.5% of all students who were chronically absent.

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.

Belle Valley School Infractions by Hispanic Students Over 5 Years