Discipline at Lakewood School: White students most affected in 2021-22 school year

Lakewood School Principal Marlene Muñoz (2023) | Lakewood School

By Kane County Reporter

Dec 19, 2023

White students, constituting 6.8% or 52 of Lakewood School's total student population of 761, accounted for 16 out of the 52 total suspensions (30.8%) in the 2021-22 school year, averaging roughly one suspension per three students, according to the latest student discipline report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

During the same period, Lakewood School's 671 Hispanic students, who make up 88.2% of the school population, received 21 suspensions. This translates to an average of roughly one suspension per 32 Hispanic students, which is definitively lower than that of white students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.

Of the 52 total suspensions at Lakewood School in the 2021-22 school year, 35 were in-school suspensions and 17 out-of-school suspensions.

According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, 27 student suspensions at Lakewood School were for violence-related offenses and two for those including drugs.

The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying 27 cases - 51.9% of the total infractions.

During the 2021-22 school year, Lakewood School reported 265 students - equivalent to 34.8% of its student body - as chronically truant, meaning they had a repeated pattern of unexcused lateness or missing classes. In addition, 223 students, or 29.3% of the student population, fell into the chronically absent category, a broader measure that includes all absences, excused or not.

In a broader context, data from the ProPublica database indicates that Black students are suspended at a rate 4.6 times higher than white students in Illinois—surpassing the already high national average rate of 3.9 times.

However, districts’ officials deny a direct link between these statistics and race. Lisa Small, the Superintendent of District 211, argues that these numbers oversimplify the situation. “Decisions are highly individualized and based on the specific behavior and are not well-suited to a simple numerical analysis,” she wrote in a statement. “They are not a statistic to us, but a developing young adult.”

Illinois ranks 12th in the nation for the highest rate of suspensions among Black students relative to their white peers.

Lakewood School Infractions by White Students Over 5 Years