McLean County Times

Pontiac Community Consolidated School District 429 reported 303 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 303 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 28.4 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 tobacco, with 13 recorded cases. There were also five incidents involving violence without physical injury. Additionally, 122 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 209 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 94 incidents involved female students.

All 303 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 37 cases reported. Additionally, 106 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 74% of the Pontiac Community Consolidated School District 429 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 180 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 15% of the student body, and received 64 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.

Type of Incident	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
Alcohol	-	1
Violence with injury	-	1
Violence without injury	5	37
Drug offenses	-	1
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	2
Tobacco	13	15
Other reason	122	106
Total	140	163

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	6	2
1-2 days	121	69
2-3 days	10	32
3-4 days	3	41
4-10 days	-	15
More than 10 days	-	4