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Sunday, July 13, 2025

Chester Community Unit School District 139 students suspended 141 times just in 2023-24 school year

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Kimberly Briggs Superintendent | Chester Community Unit School District 139

Kimberly Briggs Superintendent | Chester Community Unit School District 139

Chester Community Unit School District 139 reported 141 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 146 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 141 were suspensions representing a rate of approximately 15 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students. There were an additional five cases of a student 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 violence without physical injury, with 43 recorded cases. There were also eight incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 52 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 103 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 38 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the district, 108 involved elementary or middle school students, while 33 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 15 cases reported. Additionally, 12 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 83.7% of the Chester Community Unit School District 139 student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 123 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by multiracial students, who made up 2.9% of the student body, and received 10 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.

Chester Community Unit School District 139 Student Discipline Report
Type of IncidentIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
Alcohol--
Violence with injury24
Violence without injury4315
Drug offenses12
Firearm--
Other dangerous weapons-2
Tobacco8-
Other reason5212
Total10635
Length of Suspensions
DurationIn-School SuspensionOut-of-School Suspension
One day or less132
1-2 days7817
2-3 days159
3-4 days-7
4-10 days--
More than 10 days--

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