Lyons Township presents sharp drop in exclusionary suspensions, expands Restorative Intervention Room

Lyons Township administrators presented the district's annual attendance and discipline report and the first-year results of a new Restorative Intervention Room at the Board of Education committee meeting, saying the program helped reduce exclusionary discipline and created new, individualized supports for students. "We went from having 58 out of school suspensions in 23–24 to having 9 during the last school year," said Dr. Leslie Owens during the presentation.

Why it matters: The district framed the shift as consistent with state guidance against exclusionary discipline and as a strategy to keep students connected to learning. Board members pressed for detail on racial disproportionality in referrals and on plans to reduce chronic absenteeism.

Administrators said the RIR — a 1–3 day in-school placement staffed by restorative intervention specialists — is meant to hold students accountable while providing skill-building and connection. Sarah Smith, an associate principal who assisted the program, described individualized student success plans, psychoeducational modules on the Third Millennium platform and reentry meetings led by students. "Students also provide feedback through a couple different forms," Smith said, noting 136 students completed an exit survey and that "126 of the 136 students that took this survey say that they would recommend the RIR program to peers in a similar situation." That figure was reported by the RIR team during their summary.

Program metrics: Presenters said 141 distinct students experienced RIR placements during the year, representing 200 total placements. RIR staff reported students spent 358 total days in the intervention rooms during year one. The team gave a breakdown of referral reasons: confrontations 29 percent, attendance 19.5 percent, no-show detentions 17.5 percent and substances 14.5 percent. The presenters also said 38 students had more than one RIR placement; the team added that 18 of those 38 would not count as repeat placements if certain attendance-program placements were treated separately.

Attendance and disproportion: The presentation included disaggregated discipline data showing that Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American students remained overrepresented in referrals while white students were underrepresented. Board members asked for multi‑year trendlines and deeper disaggregation (by grade and by students who cycle through feeders). Board member comments also pushed for pre/post measures for implicit-bias training; administrators cited the district’s use of Panorama survey data to pulse staff perceptions and promised ongoing professional development.

Planned actions and directions: Administrators outlined an attendance campaign — "We are present, we are engaged, we are LT" — that will include: weekly progress-report emails to families (grades, absences and tardies for each class starting after Labor Day), attendance roadmaps for families and staff, quarterly communications, and an "attendance support room" pilot to provide restorative, skill-building placements in place of traditional consequences for chronic tardiness/absences. Brian Radovich, assistant principal, said the RIR intake process includes parent/guardian meetings and coordination with counselors or social workers; Terriana Bland and Maya Wallen, RIR specialists, described intake, individualized lessons tied to CASEL competencies and reentry meetings that are student-led.

Safety and supports: Administrators said the district has added more than 50 exterior cameras and updated emergency plans and classroom flip charts; they described expanded student services staffing (two restorative specialists added last year and four new psychologists this year). Presenters also described partnerships for mental‑health screening: for substance-violation placements the district coordinates screening with Rosecrans clinicians and offers a virtual parent support group.

Questions and next steps: Board members asked for clarification on the RIR recidivism rate, grade-level breakdowns of placements and how the program is used for attendance versus behavior. Administrators said they are collecting more coordinated restorative-response data in Infinite Campus and expect richer metrics next year. No formal policy change or board vote was taken on the RIR at this meeting; the report was informational and administrators were directed to return with additional data and proposals for the attendance-support pilot.

Ending: The district characterized the RIR’s first-year results as promising but in need of continued data collection and refinement. Administrators committed to posting more detailed disproportionality and placement data to the district web pages and to reporting back to the board with follow-up metrics once quarterly and year-end analyses are complete.