Illinois State Board of education | Vice Chair of the Board Dr. Donna S. Leak (2023)
Illinois State Board of education | Vice Chair of the Board Dr. Donna S. Leak (2023)
During the same period, South Beloit Junior High School's 85 white students, who make up 51.5% of the school population, received 10 suspensions. This translates to an average of roughly one suspension per nine white students, which is definitively lower than that of Black students.
Multiracial students at South Beloit Junior High School behaved worse than whites, but better than Blacks, with six suspensions for 15 students in the 2021-22 school year - an average of roughly one suspension per three multiracial students.
In contrast, Hispanic students, who make up 30.9% of the student body at South Beloit Junior High School, had the lowest suspension ratio with an average of roughly one suspension per 10 Hispanic students, totaling five suspensions. This rate is definitively lower than that of Black students, establishing them as the best-behaved racial group in the school.
Of the 35 total suspensions at South Beloit Junior High School in the 2021-22 school year, 16 were in-school suspensions and 19 out-of-school suspensions.
According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, 10 student suspensions at South Beloit Junior High School were for violence-related offenses and three for those including drugs.
The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying 10 cases - 28.6% of the total infractions.
During the 2021-22 school year, South Beloit Junior High School reported 39 students - equivalent to 23.5% of its student body - as chronically truant, meaning they had a repeated pattern of unexcused lateness or missing classes. In addition, 53 students, or 32% 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.
| Race | Number of Students | Total Infractions | Infractions Per Student |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hispanic | 51 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Black | 13 | 14 | 1.08 |
| Multiracial | 15 | 6 | 0.4 |
| White | 85 | 10 | 0.12 |
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