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In total, there were 10 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 3.9 incidents per 100 of the school's enrolled students.
The school reported that all in-school suspension was given for incident involving violence that caused physical injury.
There were two disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another eight incidents involved female students.
All 10 suspensions issued in the Laura S. Ward Elementary School schools involved elementary or middle school students.
Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, with eight cases reported.
In terms of ethnicity, Black students, which made up 76.4% of the Laura S. Ward Elementary School student body, were suspended the most in the school, with seven suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 23.3% of the student body, and received three suspensions.
Laura S. Ward Elementary School is located in the Chicago Public School District 299, and has a main office in Chicago.
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.
| Type of Incident | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | - | - |
| Violence with injury | 1 | 8 |
| Violence without injury | - | - |
| Drug offenses | - | - |
| Firearm | - | 1 |
| Other dangerous weapons | - | - |
| Tobacco | - | - |
| Other reason | - | - |
| Total | 1 | 9 |
| Duration | In-School Suspension | Out-of-School Suspension |
|---|---|---|
| One day or less | - | - |
| 1-2 days | 1 | - |
| 2-3 days | - | 9 |
| 3-4 days | - | - |
| 4-10 days | - | - |
| More than 10 days | - | - |
