Quantcast

Metro East Sun

Monday, October 20, 2025

Wood River-Hartford Elementary School District 15 reports 140 incidents of students being suspended just in 2023-24 school year

Webp tony sanders 45

Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

Wood River-Hartford Elementary School District 15 reported 140 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 140 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 25 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions all cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 106 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 34 incidents involved female students.

All 140 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

The only out-of-school suspension was for incident involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 17 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 78.9% of the Wood River-Hartford Elementary School District 15 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 115 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 9.3% of the student body, and received 13 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.

Wood River-Hartford Elementary School District 15 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury--
Violence without injury--
Drug offenses--
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons-1
Tobacco--
Other reason12217
Total12218
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less13-
1-2 days787
2-3 days187
3-4 days123
4-10 days11
More than 10 days--

MORE NEWS