Illinois Valley Times

Putnam County Community Unit School District 535 reported 160 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 160 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 21.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with nine recorded cases. There were also two incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 106 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 136 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 24 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 54 involved elementary or middle school students, while 106 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 21 cases reported. Additionally, 14 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 83.9% of the Putnam County Community Unit School District 535 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 136 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 12.5% of the student body, and received 22 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
Alcohol	-	-
Violence with injury	1	3
Violence without injury	9	21
Drug offenses	-	1
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	2	2
Tobacco	1	-
Other reason	106	14
Total	119	41

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	15	4
1-2 days	104	18
2-3 days	-	9
3-4 days	-	8
4-10 days	-	-
More than 10 days	-	2