Lyons Township High Shifts Away From Suspensions

LA GRANGE, IL – The Lyons Township High School board this week decided to move away from suspensions by creating "restorative intervention rooms."

"It's supporting our students, and it's also accountability for our students," board member Jill Grech said.

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

In a presentation, Principal Jennifer Tyrrell said the school wants to significantly reduce out-of-school suspensions. But she said in extreme cases, such as selling drugs, the school may still resort to such measures.

The school also wants the intervention rooms to replace in-school suspensions. The program would require the hiring of a certified employee and an aide for the intervention room at each campus.

Grech said residents have asked a lot of questions about intervention rooms. Out-of-school suspensions, she said, were ineffective because students often end up doing what they want to do.

And with in-school suspensions, she said, students are frequently "just sitting there to watch the clock to punch out at the end of the day."

Tyrrell said intervention rooms require a higher level of accountability.

"Students are thinking about the harm that was caused to an individual, to a class, to a school community and have time to process that, to think about that, to learn from the experience," Tyrrell said. "It's structured and tailored to the student and the situation."

Board member Michael Thomas asked whether students responsible for life-threatening situations would be assigned to the intervention rooms.

Tyrrell said the rooms were not an option in every single situation.

"That's an important distinction to make," she said.

Officials said they looked at intervention rooms in other places, including the 24,000-student Plainfield School District 202.

This is where board member Tim Albores works as the director of student services. He said the district started the program more than a dozen years ago.

"We've seen tremendous benefits in our district," he said.

The board voted unanimously for the program. Board President Dawn Aubert and member Jill Beda Daniels were absent.