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Sunday, July 13, 2025

Orion Community Unit School District 223 reports 61 incidents of students being suspended just in 2023-24 school year

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

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

Orion Community Unit School District 223 reported 61 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 61 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 6.3 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 without physical injury, with 10 recorded cases. There were also seven incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 35 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 53 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another eight incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 40 involved elementary or middle school students, while 21 involved high school students.

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

All of the students suspended during the 2023-24 school year in Orion Community Unit School District 223 were white, who made up 95% of the district’s student population.

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.

Orion Community Unit School District 223 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol2-
Violence with injury22
Violence without injury10-
Drug offenses-1
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons--
Tobacco7-
Other reason352
Total565
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less62
1-2 days451
2-3 days52
3-4 days--
4-10 days--
More than 10 days--

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