South Cook News

Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 reported 2,194 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 2,199 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 2,194 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 69.8 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional five cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 41 recorded cases. There were also 39 incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 1,650 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 1,427 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 767 incidents involved female students.

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

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 87 cases reported. Additionally, 196 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 65.1% of the Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 1,751 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 28.8% of the student body, and received 401 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	36	61
Violence without injury	41	87
Drug offenses	39	52
Firearm	-	2
Other dangerous weapons	7	6
Tobacco	15	2
Other reason	1,650	196
Total	1,788	406

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	1,470	149
2-3 days	197	109
3-4 days	58	129
4-10 days	47	12
More than 10 days	16	7