Parent tells Stevenson board attendance-based parking policy needs written rules, cites legal risks

Shannon Nuzzal, a parent from the Village of Hawthorne Woods, told the Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 Board that families lack written guidance on a new attendance-based framework the district is using to determine access to senior privileges such as parking.

"This framework was communicated midyear after absences already been occurred and without any formal written policy beyond the general notice to families," Nuzzal said. She said the district has since requested medical documentation for eligibility but that families were not told midyear that such documentation would be required.

Nuzzal told the board the legal context matters. "Illinois school code is clear that chronic absenteeism is a reporting designation, not a disciplinary [tool], and it does not authorize punitive consequences for excused or medically necessary absences," she said, adding that the district should ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 and consider Title IX where policies create unequal impacts.

Nuzzal asked the board to exercise oversight and ensure three things: that attendance-based systems affecting student privileges be adopted and communicated before the school year begins; that medically documented absences be explicitly excluded from punitive calculations rather than left to discretionary review; and that the district provide written documentation showing how the system complies with Illinois law, Title IX, ADA and Section 504.

The presiding official asked administration to keep the board updated on meetings with Dr. Twinell and future conversations addressing the concern.