Frank Parisi, President at Elmwood Park Community Unit School District | Elmwood Park Community Unit School District
Frank Parisi, President at Elmwood Park Community Unit School District | Elmwood Park Community Unit School District
In total, there were 570 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 568 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 20.1 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional two cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.
The expulsions were issued for an incident involving violence that caused physical injury, three incidents involving drugs, and two incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.
Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving tobacco, with two recorded cases. There were also three incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm, drugs, and violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 346 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.
There were 384 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 184 incidents involved female students.
Of all suspensions issued in the district, 72 involved elementary or middle school students, while 489 involved high school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 25 cases reported. Additionally, 134 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.
In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 60.1% of the Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 401 suspensions and five expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 33.3% of the student body, and received 124 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.
| Type of Incident | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension | Expelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | - | - | - |
| Violence with injury | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| Violence without injury | - | 16 | - |
| Drug offenses | 1 | 25 | 3 |
| Firearm | - | - | - |
| Other dangerous weapons | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Tobacco | 2 | 19 | - |
| Other reason | 346 | 134 | 1 |
| Total | 351 | 210 | 7 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | 14 | 4 |
| 1-2 days | 318 | 76 |
| 2-3 days | 18 | 46 |
| 3-4 days | 1 | 59 |
| 4-10 days | - | 14 |
| More than 10 days | - | 11 |
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