Reed-Custer High School students suspended 55 times just in 2023-24 school year

Reed-Custer High School reported 55 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 55 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 14.5 incidents per 100 of the school's enrolled students.

The school reported that most in-school suspensions were given for incidents involving tobacco, with 10 recorded cases. There were also three incidents involving drugs. Additionally, 29 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 46 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another nine incidents involved female students.

All 55 suspensions issued in the Reed-Custer High School schools involved high school students.

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

In terms of ethnicity, white students, which made up 84.5% of the Reed-Custer High School student body, were suspended the most in the school, with 38 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 11.1% of the student body, and received 10 suspensions.

Reed-Custer High School is located in the Reed Custer Community Unit School District 255U, and has a main office in Braidwood.

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.