West Central Reporter

Macomb Community Unit School District 185 reported 221 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 221 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 11.4 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 six recorded cases. There was also one incident involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 24 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 156 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 65 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 151 involved elementary or middle school students, while 70 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 55 cases reported. Additionally, 104 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 71% of the Macomb Community Unit School District 185 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 149 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 13.6% of the student body, and received 56 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	2
Violence without injury	6	55
Drug offenses	-	6
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	1
Tobacco	-	22
Other reason	24	104
Total	31	190

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	3	25
1-2 days	26	117
2-3 days	2	21
3-4 days	-	18
4-10 days	-	7
More than 10 days	-	2