Central Elementary School students suspended 15 times in 2023-24 school year

Central Elementary School reported 15 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 15 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 2.9 incidents per 100 of the school's enrolled students.

The school reported that all in-school suspensions were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 10 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another five incidents involved female students.

All 15 suspensions issued in the Central Elementary School schools involved elementary or middle school students.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, which made up 27.2% of the Central Elementary School student body, were suspended the most in the school, with eight suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by white students, who made up 54.7% of the student body, and received five suspensions.

Central Elementary School is located in the Plainfield School District 202, and has a main office in Plainfield.

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.