Will County Gazette

The Joliet Township High School District (JTHS) developed a disciplinary intervention plan to submit to the state to address frequent discipline issues.

The plan was discussed at a recent JTHS Board of Education meeting.  

"As we look through this discipline improvement plan, this is because the district has been cited for having too many - highest 20% of suspensions, as well as disproportionality with our exclusionary discipline for three consecutive years," JTHS Superintendent, Dr. Karla Guseman, said during the meeting which was recorded and posted on YouTube. "And this is the first time, I believe, due to the pandemic, that we were asked to submit a plan, though this legislation began in 2015."

According to district’s Discipline Improvement Plan, the Illinois Board of Education requires any school that is in the top 20% of any of three categories: suspensions, expulsions, or racial disproportionality in disciplinary actions, for three consecutive years to submit a plan for addressing these issues.

The district’s plan for addressing disciplinary issues includes enhancing existing methods, like dean interventions, problem solving circles, and substance abuse interventions, as well as new methods. New methods that were discussed included lunch, advisory and after school detentions, district wide cool down rooms, the hiring of a district substance abuse clinician, and implementing district wide expectations for teachers in their classrooms.

The JTHS District will compile a full academic year of data in disciplinary records this summer to create a new baseline for their goals and plans as there has not been a full school year to use for data purposes since 2018-19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The district will also work to ensure continuity with post-COVID issues.