McLean County Times

Woodland Community Unit School District 5 reported 67 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 67 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 14.9 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 eight recorded cases. Additionally, 29 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 52 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 15 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 59 involved elementary or middle school students, while eight involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with seven cases reported. Additionally, 23 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 85.6% of the Woodland Community Unit School District 5 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 48 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 4.7% of the student body, and received seven 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	-	-
Violence with injury	-	-
Violence without injury	8	7
Drug offenses	-	-
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-
Tobacco	-	-
Other reason	29	23
Total	37	30

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	11	4
1-2 days	19	16
2-3 days	6	8
3-4 days	1	2
4-10 days	-	-
More than 10 days	-	-