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West Central Reporter

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Students suspended 82 times solely in 2023-24 school year in Scott County

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Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

School administrators within Scott County reportedly handed out 82 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 82 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county.

Countywide, all of the disciplinary actions were registered in Winchester Elementary School and Winchester High School.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury and violence without physical injury, with six recorded cases. There were also two incidents involving tobacco and a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 35 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 62 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 20 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Scott County schools, 41 involved elementary or middle school students, while 41 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving tobacco, with 13 cases reported. Additionally, 21 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

All of the students suspended during the 2023-24 school year in Scott County schools were white, who made up 96% of the county's student population.

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.

Scott County Student Discipline Report in 2023-24 School Year
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury32
Violence without injury31
Drug offenses-2
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons1-
Tobacco113
Other reason3521
Total4339
Length of Suspensions in Scott County in 2023-24 School Year
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less4-
1-2 days3616
2-3 days310
3-4 days-7
4-10 days-2
More than 10 days-4

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