McHenry Times

Harvard Community Unit School District 50 reported 478 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 482 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 478 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 19.2 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional four cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving drugs and tobacco, with 22 recorded cases. There were also nine incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 303 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 350 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 128 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 78 involved elementary or middle school students, while 400 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with 40 cases reported. Additionally, 46 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 72.6% of the Harvard Community Unit School District 50 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 400 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 24.4% of the student body, and received 69 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
Alcohol	1	1
Violence with injury	9	40
Violence without injury	8	16
Drug offenses	11	31
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	-	-
Tobacco	11	1
Other reason	303	46
Total	343	135

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	24	18
1-2 days	301	53
2-3 days	14	30
3-4 days	4	20
4-10 days	-	12
More than 10 days	-	2