Illinois Valley Times

School administrators within LaSalle County reportedly handed out 2,830 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 2,836 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 2,830 were suspensions representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county. There were an additional six cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among the 44 schools in the county, La Salle-Peru Township High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 1,396—or 49.2% of all incidents countywide.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving tobacco, with 33 recorded cases. There were also 10 incidents involving violence without physical injury. Additionally, 2,007 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 2,000 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 830 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the LaSalle County schools, 639 involved elementary or middle school students, while 2,191 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 94 cases reported. Additionally, 536 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 70.6% of the student body in LaSalle County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 1,499 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (53% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 20.5% of the student body, and received 896 suspensions (31.7%).

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
Alcohol	-	6
Violence with injury	5	44
Violence without injury	10	94
Drug offenses	4	69
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	3	12
Tobacco	33	7
Other reason	2,007	536
Total	2,062	768

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	59	52
1-2 days	1,939	281
2-3 days	53	157
3-4 days	7	191
4-10 days	3	63
More than 10 days	1	24