Grundy Reporter

Coal City Community Unit School District 1 reported 174 suspensions and an expulsion just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 176 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 175 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 8.2 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving violence without physical injury.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving tobacco, with 58 recorded cases. There were also 19 incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 41 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 126 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 49 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 45 involved elementary or middle school students, while 129 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving tobacco, with 11 cases reported. Additionally, 20 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 84.8% of the Coal City Community Unit School District 1 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 148 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 11.4% of the student body, and received 20 suspensions and were expelled once.

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	Expelled
Alcohol	-	-	-
Violence with injury	-	5	-
Violence without injury	7	10	1
Drug offenses	19	3	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-	-
Tobacco	58	11	-
Other reason	41	20	-
Total	125	49	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	5	-
1-2 days	44	23
2-3 days	7	6
3-4 days	42	10
4-10 days	26	10
More than 10 days	1	-