School administrators within Mercer County reportedly handed out 219 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
In total, there were 219 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county.
Among the seven schools in the county, Mercer County High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 106—or 48.4% of all incidents countywide.
The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving drugs, with 17 recorded cases. There were also six incidents involving violence without physical injury. Additionally, 86 cases were classified under “other reason” or left unspecified.
There were 164 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 55 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the Mercer County schools, 113 involved elementary or middle school students, while 106 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 17 cases reported. Additionally, 64 cases were classified under the “other reason” category.
In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 91% of the student body in Mercer County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 185 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (84.5% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 2.2% of the student body, and received 12 suspensions (5.5%).
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.
| Type of Incident | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | – | – |
| Violence with injury | 2 | 2 |
| Violence without injury | 6 | 17 |
| Drug offenses | 17 | 12 |
| Firearm | – | – |
| Other dangerous weapons | 3 | 3 |
| Tobacco | 4 | 3 |
| Other reason | 86 | 64 |
| Total | 118 | 101 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 9 | 22 |
| 1-2 days | 81 | 46 |
| 2-3 days | 4 | 11 |
| 3-4 days | 23 | 14 |
| 4-10 days | 1 | 8 |
| More than 10 days | – | – |
