Thornton Township High School District 205 reported 2,139 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 2,143 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 2,139 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 50.5 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional four 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 tobacco, with eight recorded cases. There were also six incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 1,006 cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
There were 1,205 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 934 incidents involved female students.
All 2,139 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 199 cases reported. Additionally, 683 cases were classified under the “other reason” category.
In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 77.3% of the Thornton Township High School District 205 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 1,886 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 18.4% of the student body, and received 181 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 | – | 66 |
| Violence without injury | 1 | 199 |
| Drug offenses | 6 | 123 |
| Firearm | – | 1 |
| Other dangerous weapons | – | 6 |
| Tobacco | 8 | 39 |
| Other reason | 1,006 | 683 |
| Total | 1,021 | 1,118 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | – | – |
| 1-2 days | 807 | 188 |
| 2-3 days | 192 | 246 |
| 3-4 days | 16 | 296 |
| 4-10 days | 3 | 203 |
| More than 10 days | 3 | 185 |
