Behavioral Issues Up At Lyons Township High

LA GRANGE, IL – The latest data from Lyons Township High School shows that behavioral issues increased by a quarter last year from a year earlier.

For Monday's school board meeting, the administration compiled statistics on disciplinary problems. Last year, the school received 3,147 behavioral referrals, up from 2,512 in 2023-24 and 2,121 in 2024-25.

Attendance referrals went up slightly to 6,043 last year, compared with 5,810 a year before. Two years ago, the school recorded 7,033.

Last year, the school issued nine out-of-school suspensions, which were down from 58 a year earlier. The school attributed that drop to its new "Restorative Intervention Rooms."

Under that program, officials aim to avoid removing students from the school environment through "exclusionary discipline."

Officials said the intervention rooms give students opportunities to take responsibility for their actions and work to repair the harm that has occurred. The students also receive academic help.

In some ways, the latest disciplinary data showed improvement.

For instance, fights with injuries dropped by half last year, to six. Fights without physical injuries fell to 21, from 30. And drug offenses plunged to 28, from 99.

Meanwhile, academic honesty violations spiked to 77, from 48, and "blatant" disrespect increased to 68, from 39. Electronic policy violations rose to 159, from 108.

Of all the disciplinary referrals, 47 percent involved Hispanic students, who make up about a quarter of the student body, according to school data. Whites made up 40 percent of such referrals, although they are nearly two-thirds of students.

Meanwhile, African American students, who are 3 percent, made up 7 percent of referrals. Asian Americans were responsible for less than 1 percent of referrals, but are 2.5 percent of students.