School administrators within Hamilton County reportedly handed out 166 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 166 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county.
Among the three schools in the county, Hamilton County Junior/Senior High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 153—or 92.2% of all incidents countywide.
The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving tobacco, with 28 recorded cases. There were also 13 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 97 cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
There were 126 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 37 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the Hamilton County schools, 79 involved elementary or middle school students, while 87 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with two cases reported. Additionally, 12 cases were classified under the “other reason” category.
All of the students suspended during the 2023-24 school year in Hamilton County schools were white, who made up 95.5% 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.
| Type of Incident | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | – | – |
| Violence with injury | 13 | – |
| Violence without injury | 10 | 1 |
| Drug offenses | 1 | 2 |
| Firearm | – | – |
| Other dangerous weapons | 1 | 1 |
| Tobacco | 28 | – |
| Other reason | 97 | 12 |
| Total | 150 | 16 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 7 | – |
| 1-2 days | 128 | 6 |
| 2-3 days | 11 | 1 |
| 3-4 days | 4 | 4 |
| 4-10 days | – | 5 |
| More than 10 days | – | – |
