Lake County Gazette

Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 reported 209 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 209 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 4.6 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 tobacco, with 24 recorded cases. There were also six incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm. Additionally, 138 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 162 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 47 incidents involved female students.

All 209 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with four cases reported. Additionally, 25 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 42.9% of the Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 92 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 9.2% of the student body, and received 66 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	2	2
Violence with injury	-	-
Violence without injury	-	-
Drug offenses	5	4
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	6	3
Tobacco	24	-
Other reason	138	25
Total	175	34

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	4	-
1-2 days	98	10
2-3 days	32	5
3-4 days	35	9
4-10 days	6	5
More than 10 days	-	5