Lake County Gazette

Beach Park Community Consolidated School District 3 reported 471 suspensions and two expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 474 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 473 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 24.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for .

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 10 recorded cases. There was also one incident involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 130 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 323 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 150 incidents involved female students.

All 471 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 109 cases reported. Additionally, 161 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 62.3% of the Beach Park Community Consolidated School District 3 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 198 suspensions and two expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 19.3% of the student body, and received 197 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	-	-	-
Violence with injury	1	40	-
Violence without injury	10	109	-
Drug offenses	-	10	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	2	-
Tobacco	-	8	-
Other reason	130	161	2
Total	141	330	2

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	40	48
1-2 days	87	120
2-3 days	14	77
3-4 days	-	46
4-10 days	-	31
More than 10 days	-	8