Reforms Reduce Student Suspension, Disciplinary Actions At ETHS

EVANSTON, IL — Administrators of Evanston Township High School said a new disciplinary philosophy adopted in recent years has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of suspensions and other punishments. The number of total disciplinary actions dropped by 35 percent in the 2017-18 school year, with the least suspensions at the school in the past five years of data, according to a memo from Principal Marcus Campbell and staff to Superintendent Eric Witherspoon ahead of a board meeting Monday.

Last year, the number of suspensions was down by 38 percent compared to the 2013-14 school year, according to the memo. It said only 3 percent of last year's nearly 4,700 disciplinary actions resulted in an outside suspension, where a student is sent home and excluded from school. Of those 118 incidents, 41 percent were for fighting, 23 percent were for drug offenses, 10 percent were for harassment or bullying and 8 percent were associated with weapon violations.

The most common disciplinary offenses were "disruptive acts," "defiance of authority" or "unauthorized presence," which made up 59 percent of all disciplinary actions, administrators said. However, only 2 percent of those actions were suspensions. Over the past five years, the total number of days that students have spent outside has declined by 60 percent, falling from 1,933 in 2013-14 to 781 in 2017-18.

When broken down by different student groups, the district's data shows the suspension rate fell more for black students, whose suspension rate fell from 31 percent in 2009-10 to 14 percent in 2017-18. The rate for Latino students fell by 7 percent and the rate for white students fell by 3 percent, according to the memo.

It said administrators began a schoolwide focus last year to improve achievement among students who are black and male and to focus on racially disproportionate disciplinary practices. Black students make up about 29 percent of the student body and were subject to over 55 percent of suspensions. Administrators said the total number of disciplinary incidents for the group in the first semester was down 30 percent between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

The memo said there are several support systems ETHS uses as an alternative to suspension. They intend to improve behavior while cutting down on suspensions and getting the most out of any time students are kept out of class.

Those systems include: Peer conference, where students negotiate an acceptable resolution, restorative justice, when students repair harm from their behavior, "Students Under the Influence," where students suspended over banned substances receive an educational program and encouragement to seek support with their parents and an student empowerment program for students involved in "egregious" acts that could end up with suspensions involving a holistic approach to take on issues hindering student success.

In the past year, the district has also provided training for students and staff aimed at making the school a more peaceful community, as well as allowing students on social probation to meet with the dean to negotiate reduced terms. The memo said the school's new disciplinary philosophy is focused more on a preventative rather than a reactive approach.

Under House Bill 4208, which passed last year, the Illinois State Board of Education has until the end of this month to identify the districts in the top 20 percent in exclusionary discipline – suspensions, expulsions and transferring students. Districts found to be in the top 20 percent of any of those categories for three straight years must submit a plan showing how it plans to reduce the use of exclusionary disciplinary practices of racial disproportionality or both, according to the memo.

Read complete memo from ETHS Principal Marcus Campbell, Associate Principal Keith Robinson and Carrie Levy, director of research, evaluation and assessment »