Lyons Township High Discipline Issues Fall By Third

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School reported a big drop in behavioral problems last year. But it saw an increase in the category of drug and tobacco violations.

Last school year, the school recorded 2,038 behavioral referrals, dropping by a third from 3,147 a year earlier.

The annual discipline report was presented this week to the school board.

For drug violations, the number of referrals more than doubled to 62 last school year. Meanwhile, tobacco issues rose to 52, up from 31 a year earlier.

Last year, the school issued eight out-of-school suspensions, compared with nine a year earlier.

That's way down from historical numbers. For instance, the school reported 58 out-of-school suspensions in 2023-24.

The school attributed the drop to its "Restorative Intervention Rooms, which started a couple of years ago.

Under that program, officials aim to avoid removing students from the school environment through "exclusionary discipline" such as out-of-school suspensions.

Officials said the intervention rooms give students opportunities to take responsibility for their actions and work to repair the harm that has occurred. The students also receive academic help.

The board's president, Tim Albores, said officials heard fears that restorative rooms would remove consequences and thus cause more problems.

But he said that did not happen.

"That has to be highlighted because that's huge," Albores told administrators. "That's years and years of work on your part to get us to the point that we're at. And certainly there's room to improve, but the numbers don't lie."

In presenting the report, Jennifer Owens, the school's director of student services, said administrators could not be more proud that out-of-school suspensions are down.

Such discipline is only imposed when safety is a concern, she said.

In restorative rooms, Owens said, students are "engaged and processing through whatever it is that occurred rather than generally sitting at home with no guidance and no support."

At the same time, Owens said the rise in drug offenses concerned the school. She said officials would focus on reducing the number.

For students with drug offenses, the school connects them with Rosecrance, which focuses on mental health and addiction issues.

And officials said they plan to provide more social worker follow-up for students dealing with such issues.

As for fighting, the school saw a decrease last year. For violence without physical injuries, nine incidents were reported last year, down from 21.

In the category of violence with physical injuries, the school saw seven instances last year, up from six.

For much of the last decade, Lyons Township High has been in the top 20 percent of schools for racial disproportionality in discipline.

In 2023-24, the high school ranked 21st out of 442 districts for its racial disparity, according to the state. But in 2024-25, the high school was no longer in the top 20 percent, officials reported.

If the school continues that trend for three years in a row, it will no longer have to produce an annual improvement plan to the state.

Last year, Hispanic students, who make up 26 percent of the student body, were involved in 39 percent of behavioral referrals, according to the school. That was down from 47 percent a year earlier.

Black students, who make up 3 percent of enrollment, accounted for 8 percent of referrals, increasing from 7 percent.

Whites are 64 percent of students. They made up 47 percent of behavioral referrals last year, up from 40 percent.