McHenry Times

School administrators within McHenry County reportedly handed out 3,973 suspensions and an expulsion solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 3,995 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 3,974 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 21 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsion was issued for an incident involving violence that caused physical injury.

Among the 80 schools in the county, Harvard High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 402—or 10.1% 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 383 recorded cases. There were also 138 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 1,783 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 2,995 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 975 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the McHenry County schools, 1,814 involved elementary or middle school students, while 2,159 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 413 cases reported. Additionally, 608 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 65.3% of the student body in McHenry County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 2,084 suspensions and one expulsion reported during the 2023-24 school year (52.5% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 25.4% of the student body, and received 1,421 suspensions (35.8%).

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	9	30	-
Violence with injury	48	160	1
Violence without injury	383	413	-
Drug offenses	75	211	-
Firearm	2	5	-
Other dangerous weapons	13	35	-
Tobacco	138	60	-
Other reason	1,783	608	-
Total	2,451	1,522	1

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	536	99
1-2 days	1,621	667
2-3 days	255	336
3-4 days	33	236
4-10 days	5	143
More than 10 days	1	41