Rock Island Today

School administrators within Rock Island County reportedly handed out 3,107 suspensions and seven expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 3,121 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 3,114 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.

The expulsions were issued for two incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, an incident involving violence without physical injury, an incident involving a firearm, and three incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

Among the 45 schools in the county, Rock Island High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 489—or 15.7% 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 164 recorded cases. There were also 102 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 534 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 2,200 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 914 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Rock Island County schools, 2,107 involved elementary or middle school students, while 850 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 773 cases reported. Additionally, 748 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 19.7% of the student body in Rock Island County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 1,155 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (37.1% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by white students, who made up 47.3% of the student body, and received 1,076 suspensions and were expelled once (34.6%).

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	-	13	-
Violence with injury	102	446	2
Violence without injury	164	773	1
Drug offenses	4	112	-
Firearm	-	6	1
Other dangerous weapons	-	28	3
Tobacco	40	137	-
Other reason	534	748	-
Total	844	2,263	7

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	223	188
1-2 days	527	653
2-3 days	83	504
3-4 days	11	422
4-10 days	-	409
More than 10 days	-	87