Lake County Gazette

Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 reported 116 suspensions and an expulsion during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 117 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 2.8 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

The expulsion was issued for .

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

There were 86 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 31 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 46 involved elementary or middle school students, while 70 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 37 cases reported. Additionally, 43 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 32.4% of the Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 61 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 58.9% of the student body, and received 45 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	Expelled
Alcohol	-	2	-
Violence with injury	-	9	-
Violence without injury	2	37	-
Drug offenses	1	14	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	1	-
Tobacco	-	-	-
Other reason	7	43	1
Total	10	106	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	5	-
1-2 days	3	29
2-3 days	1	17
3-4 days	-	23
4-10 days	1	27
More than 10 days	-	10