Metro East Sun

Signal Hill School District 181 reported 21 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 21 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 7.5 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with two recorded cases. There was also one incident involving tobacco. Additionally, two cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 17 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another four incidents involved female students.

All 21 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

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

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 47.5% of the Signal Hill School District 181 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 15 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 36.1% of the student body, and received four 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	-	3
Violence without injury	2	6
Drug offenses	-	-
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-
Tobacco	1	1
Other reason	2	6
Total	5	16

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	4	7
2-3 days	-	4
3-4 days	-	4
4-10 days	1	1
More than 10 days	-	-