McLean County Times

Lexington Community Unit School District 7 reported 42 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 42 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 8.8 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 six recorded cases. There was also one incident involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 25 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

Only male students were subject to disciplinary actions, a rate of approximately 10 incidents per 100 male students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 24 involved elementary or middle school students, while 18 involved high school students.

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

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 94.8% of the Lexington Community Unit School District 7 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 37 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.8% of the student body, and received five 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	6	4
Drug offenses	-	-
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	1	-
Tobacco	-	-
Other reason	25	6
Total	32	10

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	16	3
1-2 days	14	4
2-3 days	2	1
3-4 days	-	1
4-10 days	-	1
More than 10 days	-	-