Report: At Ruiz Elementary School, Black student rule-breaking rate notably exceeds that of Hispanic students

Vice Chair of the Board Dr. Donna S. Leak (2023) | Illinois State Board of education

By Chicago City Wire

Dec 20, 2023

Black students, constituting 2.9% or 13 of Ruiz Elementary School's total student population of 446, accounted for six out of the 14 total suspensions (42.9%) in the 2021-22 school year, averaging roughly one suspension per two students, according to the latest student discipline report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

During the same period, Ruiz Elementary School's 421 Hispanic students, who make up 94.4% of the school population, received eight suspensions. This translates to an average of roughly one suspension per 53 Hispanic students, which is definitively lower than that of Black students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.

Of the 14 total suspensions at Ruiz Elementary School in the 2021-22 school year, 11 were in-school suspensions and three out-of-school suspensions.

According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, five student suspensions at Ruiz Elementary School were for violence-related offenses.

The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying five cases - 35.7% of the total infractions.

During the 2021-22 school year, Ruiz Elementary School reported 244 students - equivalent to 54.8% of its student body - as chronically truant, meaning they had a repeated pattern of unexcused lateness or missing classes. In addition, 208 students, or 46.7% of the student population, fell into the chronically absent category, a broader measure that includes all absences, excused or not.

In a broader context, data from the ProPublica database indicates that Black students are suspended at a rate 4.6 times higher than white students in Illinois—surpassing the already high national average rate of 3.9 times.

However, districts’ officials deny a direct link between these statistics and race. Lisa Small, the Superintendent of District 211, argues that these numbers oversimplify the situation. “Decisions are highly individualized and based on the specific behavior and are not well-suited to a simple numerical analysis,” she wrote in a statement. “They are not a statistic to us, but a developing young adult.”

Illinois ranks 12th in the nation for the highest rate of suspensions among Black students relative to their white peers.

Ruiz Elementary School Infractions by Black Students Over 5 Years