Metro East Sun

Roxana Community Unit School District 1 reported 198 suspensions and six expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 209 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 204 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 12.4 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional five cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence without physical injury.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with nine recorded cases. Additionally, 61 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 145 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 59 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 99 involved elementary or middle school students, while 99 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 24 cases reported. Additionally, 92 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 84.9% of the Roxana Community Unit School District 1 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 183 suspensions and six expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 6.4% of the student body, and received seven 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	-	6	-
Violence without injury	9	24	1
Drug offenses	-	6	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	-	-	-
Other reason	61	92	5
Total	70	128	6

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	16	8
1-2 days	16	28
2-3 days	9	11
3-4 days	14	27
4-10 days	13	35
More than 10 days	2	19