Metro East Sun

Cahokia Community Unit School District 187 reported 341 suspensions and six expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 936 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 347 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 11.5 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional 589 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for three incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, two incidents involving violence without physical injury, and an incident involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

There were 232 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 115 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 330 involved elementary or middle school students, while 11 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 103 cases reported. Additionally, 212 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 89.6% of the Cahokia Community Unit School District 187 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 314 suspensions and six expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 5.1% of the student body, and received 11 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	-	-	-
Violence with injury	-	14	3
Violence without injury	-	103	2
Drug offenses	-	6	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	6	1
Tobacco	-	-	-
Other reason	-	212	-
Total	-	341	6

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	-	107
2-3 days	-	81
3-4 days	-	65
4-10 days	-	63
More than 10 days	-	25