Rock Island Today

School administrators within Henry County reportedly handed out 542 suspensions and an expulsion solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 550 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 543 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county. There were an additional seven cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among the 24 schools in the county, Geneseo Middle School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 76—or 13.8% 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 76 recorded cases. There were also 10 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 184 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 456 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 87 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Henry County schools, 374 involved elementary or middle school students, while 168 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 78 cases reported. Additionally, 129 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 82% of the student body in Henry County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 403 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (74.2% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 10.1% of the student body, and received 51 suspensions (9.4%).

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.

Type of Incident	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension	Expelled
Alcohol	2	2	-
Violence with injury	10	23	-
Violence without injury	76	78	-
Drug offenses	-	8	-
Firearm	-	2	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	1	-
Tobacco	9	18	-
Other reason	184	129	1
Total	281	261	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	93	53
1-2 days	170	112
2-3 days	13	46
3-4 days	5	35
4-10 days	-	12
More than 10 days	-	3