LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School seeks to eliminate suspensions with the creation of “restorative intervention rooms” at both campuses, officials said this week.
According to a memo, the officials said they wanted to avoid removing students from the school environment through “exclusionary discipline.”
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They said the intervention room would give students opportunities to take responsibility for their actions and work to repair the harm that has occurred. The students also would receive academic help, the officials said.
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“The goal here is to eliminate suspensions,” Superintendent Brian Waterman said at Monday’s school board meeting. “However, I’m not going to say and my team is not going to say that we’ll never have a suspension. We don’t know what type of safety issue may come up that may require an out-of-school suspension.”
At the high school, he said, the offenses subject to suspensions are fighting, drugs and weapons. A suspension rarely lasts longer than three days, he said.
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The intervention program would require the hiring of a certified employee and an aide for the intervention room at each campus.
“It will be an alternative to suspension and a more robust in-school space that really focuses on restoration and academic support,” Principal Jennifer Tyrrell said.
In recent years, the high school has remained near the top of the state’s list for its racial disparity in disciplining students.
The school board took no vote on starting the intervention rooms. It may do so at its March 18 meeting.
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