Metro East Sun

School administrators within St. Clair County reportedly handed out 7,888 suspensions and 37 expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 8,294 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 7,925 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 369 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for six incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, two incidents involving violence without physical injury, an incident involving alcohol and tobacco, 11 incidents involving drugs, an incident involving a firearm, and two incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

Among the 82 schools in the county, Collinsville High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 1,964—or 23.7% of all incidents countywide.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 236 recorded cases. There were also 146 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 3,887 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 5,381 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 2,466 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the St. Clair County schools, 3,384 involved elementary or middle school students, while 4,504 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 885 cases reported. Additionally, 1,975 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 38% of the student body in St. Clair County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 4,007 suspensions and 21 expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (50.8% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by white students, who made up 46.4% of the student body, and received 2,132 suspensions and were expelled seven times (27%).

Some schools or districts may not publish complete disciplinary data due to privacy protections or reporting limitations, which could affect the totals.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school 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	7	83	1
Violence with injury	48	260	6
Violence without injury	236	885	2
Drug offenses	48	212	11
Firearm	-	8	1
Other dangerous weapons	3	47	2
Tobacco	146	43	-
Other reason	3,887	1,975	14
Total	4,375	3,513	37

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	228	30
1-2 days	3,234	1,063
2-3 days	725	669
3-4 days	148	739
4-10 days	38	582
More than 10 days	2	430