NW Illinois News

School administrators within Ogle County reportedly handed out 2,979 suspensions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 2,989 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 2,979 were suspensions representing an average of 0.4 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 10 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

Among the 21 schools in the county, Rochelle Township High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 2,040—or 68.3% 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 60 recorded cases. There were also 31 incidents involving tobacco. Additionally, 2,453 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 2,105 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 874 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Ogle County schools, 600 involved elementary or middle school students, while 2,379 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 75 cases reported. Additionally, 233 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, who made up 75.3% of the student body in Ogle County schools, were suspended the most in the county, with 1,357 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year (45.6% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 18.8% of the student body, and received 1,296 suspensions (43.5%).

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
Alcohol	-	1
Violence with injury	8	21
Violence without injury	60	75
Drug offenses	3	47
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	1	3
Tobacco	31	43
Other reason	2,453	233
Total	2,556	423

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	1,847	13
1-2 days	658	167
2-3 days	43	90
3-4 days	7	77
4-10 days	1	62
More than 10 days	-	14