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Thursday, October 2, 2025

Students suspended or expelled 344 times solely in 2023-24 school year in Moultrie County

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Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | Official Website

Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | Official Website

School administrators within Moultrie County reportedly handed out 343 suspensions and an expulsion solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 344 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.2 actions per student in the county.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving violence without physical injury.

Among the six schools in the county, Sullivan Middle School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 169—or 49.1% of all incidents countywide.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 54 recorded cases. There were also 16 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 195 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 250 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 94 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Moultrie County schools, 221 involved elementary or middle school students, while 122 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 25 cases reported. Additionally, 26 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 94.1% of the student body in Moultrie County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 289 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (84.3% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 1.6% of the student body, and received five suspensions (1.5%).

Some schools or districts may not publish complete disciplinary data due to privacy protections or reporting limitations, which could affect the totals.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school 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.

Moultrie County Student Discipline Report in 2023-24 School Year
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School SuspensionExpelled
Alcohol---
Violence with injury156-
Violence without injury54251
Drug offenses-2-
Firearm-4-
Other dangerous weapons---
Tobacco16--
Other reason19526-
Total280631
Length of Suspensions in Moultrie County in 2023-24 School Year
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less1511
1-2 days22818
2-3 days178
3-4 days1416
4-10 days68
More than 10 days-2

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