Metro East Sun

Triad Community Unit School District 2 reported 345 suspensions and an expulsion just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 347 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 346 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 8.7 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsion was issued for .

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 26 recorded cases. There were also 24 incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 225 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 244 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 102 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 137 involved elementary or middle school students, while 208 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 13 cases reported. Additionally, 22 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 90.3% of the Triad Community Unit School District 2 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 288 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.6% of the student body, and received 30 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	-	-	-
Violence without injury	26	13	-
Drug offenses	24	5	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	1	2	-
Tobacco	21	6	-
Other reason	225	22	1
Total	297	48	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	14	-
1-2 days	89	8
2-3 days	129	16
3-4 days	31	11
4-10 days	15	10
More than 10 days	19	3