Chicago City Wire

Intrinsic 2 Charter High School reported 185 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 185 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 26.5 incidents per 100 of the district’s enrolled students.

Among in-school suspensions where a reason was specified, the most common cause was incidents involving drugs, with 27 recorded cases. There were also 17 incidents involving violence without physical injury. Additionally, 31 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 108 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 77 incidents involved female students.

All 185 suspensions issued in the district involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving drugs, with 33 cases reported. Additionally, 12 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, who made up 48.6% of the Intrinsic 2 Charter High School student body, were suspended the most in the district, with 90 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 42.2% of the student body, and received 64 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.

Type of Incident	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
Alcohol	2	5
Violence with injury	11	26
Violence without injury	17	13
Drug offenses	27	33
Firearm	-	-
Other dangerous weapons	4	4
Tobacco	-	-
Other reason	31	12
Total	92	93

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	-	-
1-2 days	88	64
2-3 days	4	17
3-4 days	-	10
4-10 days	-	2
More than 10 days	-	-