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Macon Reporter

Friday, July 18, 2025

Mount Zion Community Unit School District 3 students suspended 325 times just in 2023-24 school year

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Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | solutiontree.com

Dr. Donna Leak Vice-Chair - Flossmoor | solutiontree.com

Mount Zion Community Unit School District 3 reported 325 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 325 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 13.6 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 violence that caused physical injury, with 36 recorded cases. There were also 13 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 199 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 245 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 80 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 119 involved elementary or middle school students, while 206 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with 22 cases reported. Additionally, 34 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 90.7% of the Mount Zion Community Unit School District 3 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 272 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 3.7% of the student body, and received 30 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.

Mount Zion Community Unit School District 3 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury3622
Violence without injury57
Drug offenses-1
Firearm34
Other dangerous weapons--
Tobacco131
Other reason19934
Total25669
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less392
1-2 days17521
2-3 days3518
3-4 days615
4-10 days18
More than 10 days-5

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