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Carbondale Reporter

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Johnston City Community Unit School District 1 reports 81 incidents of students being suspended just in 2023-24 school year

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Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | linkedin.com

Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | linkedin.com

Johnston City Community Unit School District 1 reported 81 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 81 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 7.6 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 24 recorded cases. There were also six incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, five cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 67 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 14 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 70 involved elementary or middle school students, while 11 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 24 cases reported. Additionally, six cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 90.3% of the Johnston City Community Unit School District 1 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 68 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 5.2% of the student body, and received 11 suspensions.

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.

Johnston City Community Unit School District 1 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury611
Violence without injury2424
Drug offenses--
Firearm-1
Other dangerous weapons11
Tobacco11
Other reason56
Total3744
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less-1
1-2 days125
2-3 days1813
3-4 days621
4-10 days13
More than 10 days-1

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