Will County Gazette

Lockport Township High School District 205 reported 761 suspensions and two expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 764 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 763 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 20.2 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 expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence that caused physical injury and an incident involving drugs.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving drugs, with 53 recorded cases. There were also 50 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 443 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 567 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 196 incidents involved female students.

All 761 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 64 cases reported. Additionally, 42 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 66.7% of the Lockport Township High School District 205 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 312 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 22.4% of the student body, and received 265 suspensions and were expelled twice.

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	1	1	-
Violence with injury	18	22	1
Violence without injury	29	22	-
Drug offenses	53	64	1
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	2	3	-
Tobacco	50	11	-
Other reason	443	42	-
Total	596	165	2

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	1	1
1-2 days	411	50
2-3 days	102	25
3-4 days	66	76
4-10 days	16	11
More than 10 days	-	2