Manhattan Junior High School students suspended 23 times in 2023-24 school year

Manhattan Junior High School reported 23 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 23 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 suspensions were given for incidents involving violence without physical injury and drugs, with two recorded cases. Additionally, 13 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 21 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another two incidents involved female students.

All 23 suspensions issued in the Manhattan Junior High School schools involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with two cases reported. Additionally, six cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, white students, which made up 84.1% of the Manhattan Junior High School student body, were suspended the most in the school, with 14 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 10.3% of the student body, and received eight suspensions.

Manhattan Junior High School is located in the Manhattan School District 114, and has a main office in Manhattan.

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.