Oak Park and River Forest High School student Ieva Ambraziejus says she sees the school’s racial disparities in discipline firsthand. A junior, Ambraziejus says she has black and white friends at school, but sometimes they are treated differently, and she has experienced that difference as well.
“One thing I see about discipline is that I can be walking through the halls without ID, and I’ll be walking with black friends and my black friends will get stopped and like ‘Where’s your ID? Put your ID on.’ But for me, I can just walk past without getting anything said to me.”
Ambraziejus, 16, shared that story with a group of adults, Dec. 6, at a school board retreat taking place at Oak Park Public Library regarding the school’s discipline system. About 50 people attended, including administrators, current and former students, and community members. The retreat was the idea of D200 board member Jackie Moore, who was elected last year. She said she had wanted the school and community to come together to discuss school policies, practices and philosophy about discipline. The longstanding racial disparity in discipline, real and perceived, at the high school was the focus.
Richard Gray, one of the facilitators from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform in New York, said this was the first step toward laying the groundwork for changes in the school’s system. He and fellow facilitator Greg Hodge, of Khepera Consulting in Oakland, California, interviewed staff, students and other stakeholders prior to Saturday’s retreat.
The need for consistency in discipline practices and procedures was among the main themes they found. That was also one of the central themes at Saturday’s retreat, which had participants working in roundtable groups during the five-hour session, which took place in the library’s second-floor Veterans Room. The discussions at the various tables were candid and honest.
The school and larger community need to have a “hard discussion” about the racial disparity in OPRF’s discipline system, several tables concluded.
Black students have been overrepresented in the discipline system for years, leading all other racial groups in infractions and consequences — detentions and suspensions received — according to the school’s data.
Understanding how race, culture and socio-economic conditions impacts those numbers was another theme from Saturday’s retreat.
Former OPRF student Patrick Chrisp shared his personal story at the retreat. Chrisp, graduated last year and is currently saving money to attend Harold Washington College in Chicago. With both parents working, he often had to get his younger siblings ready for school.
Hodge noted that there are many students like Chrisp. Sometimes those kids have just one parent in the home. And sometimes those students wind up getting to school late themselves.
“Instead of looking at them as being tardy and in trouble for coming late, is that actually behavior that should be celebrated?” he asked.
Chrisp, though, doesn’t think he or anyone should be rewarded for doing what they’re supposed to do.
“I don’t think you deserve to be rewarded for doing what you should be doing anyway,” he said to some applause from other participants. “I definitely feel like the reward should be in yourself. I did what’s right because that’s what’s supposed to be done. If I go over the top, of course, reward me for that. That’s when a reward is needed.”
But recognizing good student behavior at the school was an idea supported by many of the participants Saturday. Moore and others said more student voices are needed as this discussion continues beyond Saturday — and not just black and white kids, but Hispanic as well.
Other points about improving discipline at the high school included:
- Having clear and understandable data about students’ experiences
- Understanding the “human dimension” within the “data points”
- Recognizing and rewarding teachers for positively impacting students at the school
- Engaging more parents in addressing the problem, and
- Exploring more the developmental psychology of students, in particular boys who find their way into the discipline system.
D200 board President John Phelan said after the retreat that the board will be debriefed on all the ideas discussed. Phelan said that follow-up discussions are needed before exploring what the school can do in terms of policy and programs involving the current discipline model.
Saturday’s retreat included other familiar, and less-flattering, issues at the high school. OPRF has and remains “multiple schools.” OPRF’s student body is diverse but segregated, with racial groups hanging out mostly with each other, some participants noted.
Ambraziejus talked about experiencing the “black and white school” that OPRF sometimes is. She is seen as the “ghetto white girl” among some peers because she has black friends and listens to black music. But she’s also stereotyped as the “typical white girl” when she hangs out with her white friends.
“People think of me like ‘Oh, do you go to Starbucks? Do you wear these kind of boots?’ or whatever. But I’m either the ghetto white girl or the typical white girl; there’s no in between where I can just be friends with everybody.”