West Central Reporter

Bushnell Prairie City Community Unit School District 170 reported 69 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 69 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 11.8 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 tobacco, with nine recorded cases. There were also six incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 28 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 42 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 27 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 37 involved elementary or middle school students, while 32 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with nine cases reported. Additionally, nine cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 86.7% of the Bushnell Prairie City Community Unit School District 170 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 51 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 4.9% of the student body, and received 13 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	6	9
Violence without injury	-	1
Drug offenses	4	2
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-
Tobacco	9	1
Other reason	28	9
Total	47	22

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	13	1
1-2 days	20	14
2-3 days	7	4
3-4 days	6	2
4-10 days	1	1
More than 10 days	-	-