West Cook News

Since implementing "restorative justice" practices at Oak Park District 97, out of school suspensions for non-white students have dropped by about 70 percent and the district's disproportional racial ranking for those suspensions statewide appears to have improved dramatically.

Restorative justice applied in school settings generally means taking an empathetic approach to discipline rather than traditional consequence-based justice for bad behavior.

In the 2019-2020 school year, District 97 K-8 adopted an equal outcome policy that included "eliminating discipline disproportionality" between white and non-white students. 

District 97's equity policy change, which "seeks to promote a strong sense of belonging in all of our schools...aimed at ensuring that every student we serve has access to an excellent and equitable educational experience," was developed after studying other cities and communities including Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, and other progressive school districts. 

A review of data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education shows that a statewide ranking of disproportionality of out of school suspensions between white and non-white students had District 97 moving from the 21st highest disproportionality rate in Illinois in 2019 to 308th in the 2023 school year. 

The number of total suspensions at District 97 has dropped by more than half since 2019, where there were a total of 80, or 1.3% of total enrollment, to 36 in 2023, or .7% of total enrollment.

Enrollment at District 97 has dropped by about 8% since the policy changes were implemented. 

In 2019, enrollment was 5,960 students. In 2023, enrollment was 5,492. 

While the racial disproptionality data suggests policy changes have been effective, at recent school board meetings teachers, staff and parents have been sharing shocking stories of violence they say is often overlooked by school administrators. 

Examples of out-of-control behavior included students physically assaulting teachers and staff, students locking teachers and other students ouf of classrooms and teachers facing discipline for intervening.

At a May 28 school board meeting, a Brooks Middle School teacher said physical altercations are common, daily events. 

The teacher also said administrators were incorrectly entering suspensions as vacation days or mental health days. She said that class sizes - especially elective courses - will have 30 students, which is not conducive to learning. She said that general education students are pushed into elective classes to keep the school's special education numbers in compliance, below 30%. She said that when teachers object to the lax policies they are labeled "complainers" or "difficult."

Another teacher said that District 97 middle schools are not safe. She said that students who engage in physical altercations are sent right back to class. 

Public comment at the May 28 meeting lasted one hour and 46 minutes while 21 teachers, parents, and grandparents gave examples of abhorrent student behavior and failed disciplinary policy. Of the 21 comments, 13 came from District 97 teachers, mostly from the Gwendolyn Brooks and Percy Julian middle schools.