West Cook News

Cicero School District 99 reported 963 suspensions and two expulsions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 966 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 965 were suspensions or expulsions, representing a rate of approximately 11.3 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There was an additional case of a student being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for .

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving violence without physical injury, with two recorded cases. Additionally, 429 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 675 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 290 incidents involved female students.

All 963 suspensions issued in the district involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 25 cases reported. Additionally, 501 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 97.1% of the Cicero School District 99 student body, were suspended or expelled the most in the district, with 902 suspensions and two expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Black students, who made up 1.8% of the student body, and received 53 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	-	-	-
Violence without injury	2	25	-
Drug offenses	-	5	-
Firearm	-	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	1	-
Tobacco	-	-	-
Other reason	429	501	2
Total	431	532	2

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	1
1-2 days	401	336
2-3 days	23	103
3-4 days	3	63
4-10 days	4	20
More than 10 days	-	9