School administrators within Jefferson County reportedly handed out 519 suspensions and two expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 521 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county.
The expulsions were issued for an incident involving a firearm.
Among the 20 schools in the county, Mount Vernon High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 173—or 33.2% of all incidents countywide.
The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving tobacco, with 13 recorded cases. There were also eight incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 203 cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
There were 381 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 140 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the Jefferson County schools, 288 involved elementary or middle school students, while 231 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 65 cases reported. Additionally, 84 cases were classified under the “other reason” category.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 77.7% of the student body in Jefferson County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 320 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (61.6% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Black students, who made up 9.8% of the student body, and received 103 suspensions and were expelled once (20%).
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 | Expelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | – | – | – |
| Violence with injury | 8 | 32 | – |
| Violence without injury | 7 | 65 | – |
| Drug offenses | – | 37 | – |
| Firearm | – | 1 | 1 |
| Other dangerous weapons | 3 | 5 | – |
| Tobacco | 13 | 61 | – |
| Other reason | 203 | 84 | 1 |
| Total | 234 | 285 | 2 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 54 | 13 |
| 1-2 days | 136 | 55 |
| 2-3 days | 30 | 35 |
| 3-4 days | 8 | 114 |
| 4-10 days | 4 | 44 |
| More than 10 days | 2 | 24 |
