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Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 reports 144 incidents of students being suspended just in 2023-24 school year

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Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | firststudentinc.com

Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | firststudentinc.com

Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 reported 144 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 144 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 5.7 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions all cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 105 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 39 incidents involved female students.

All 144 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 10 cases reported. Additionally, 99 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 78.9% of the Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 129 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 17.4% of the student body, and received 10 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.

Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury--
Violence without injury--
Drug offenses-10
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons-1
Tobacco--
Other reason3499
Total34110
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less5-
1-2 days2518
2-3 days336
3-4 days-27
4-10 days117
More than 10 days-12

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