ETHS reduces disciplinary actions and suspensions

Evanston Township High School administrators will report a big drop in suspensions and other disciplinary actions to the school board Monday night.

The report says suspensions last year were down 38 percent from five years ago and the number of other disciplinary actions decreased by 17 percent.

Suspensions as a percentage of discipline actions also decreased from 14 percent to 11 percent in the same period.

The number of days students spent out of class for discipline actions decreased by 60 percent, from 1,933 days in 2015-16 to 781 days in 2017-18.

In 2015 the administration developed a new approach to discipline in accordance with the school’s equity and vision statements.

However, the number of disciplinary actions increased after that change was implemented and peaked during 2016-17, at 7,189 discipline actions and 689 suspensions.

In the past year, changes to ETHS discipline practices include:

• A social probation reduction contract, which allows students to meet with the dean to negotiate a reduction to the terms of their probation.
• A school-wide focus on the disproportionality of black males being disciplined.
• Training for students and staff in non-violence and restorative justice practices.

Data for the first semester shows that discipline incidents for black/African-American males decreased by 30 percent from 942 (2015-16) to 657 (2017-18).

However, black students accounted for 55 percent of all suspensions last year despite representing less than 30 percent of the student body.

The school board will meet Monday at 7:30 p.m. in room N112 at ETHS, 1600 Dodge Ave.

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