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, Lincoln Early Childhood School's 27 Black students, who make up 7.6% of the school population, received three suspensions.
Of the 18 total suspensions at Lincoln Early Childhood School in the 2021-22 school year, all of them were out-of-school suspensions.
According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, all student suspensions at Lincoln Early Childhood School were for violence-related offenses.
The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying 18 cases - 100% of the total infractions.
During the 2021-22 school year, Lincoln Early Childhood School reported 72 students - equivalent to 20.3% of its student body - as chronically truant, meaning they had a repeated pattern of unexcused lateness or missing classes. In addition, 94 students, or 26.6% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 27 | 3 | 0.11 |
| White | 201 | 15 | 0.07 |
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