John J. Lukancic Middle School reports 129 incidents of students being suspended just in 2023-24 school year

John J. Lukancic Middle School reported 129 suspensions just during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 129 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, representing a rate of approximately 23 incidents per 100 of the school's enrolled students.

The school reported that all in-school suspension was given for incident involving violence without physical injury. Additionally, nine cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 95 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 34 incidents involved female students.

All 129 suspensions issued in the John J. Lukancic Middle School schools involved elementary or middle school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 76 cases reported. Additionally, 41 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Black students, which made up 17.7% of the John J. Lukancic Middle School student body, were suspended the most in the school, with 65 suspensions reported during the 2023-24 school year. They were followed by Hispanic students, who made up 45.5% of the student body, and received 36 suspensions.

John J. Lukancic Middle School is located in the Valley View Community Unit School District 365U, and has a main office in Romeoville.

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.