The school board at Oak Park and River Forest High School voted Wednesday, Dec. 10 to expel two students through the end of the school year. Both students are expected to participate in the second semester through an alternative high school placement at the West 40 educational cooperative.
Neither Supt. Greg Johnson nor school board members discussed the basis of the expulsions after the special board meeting. Johnson suggested a Wednesday Journal reporter speak to the principal or assistant principal for background on the school’s Behavior Education Plan.
Asked in an interview Thursday, David Narain, assistant principal for operations, what student actions can lead to expulsion, he said that bringing weapons into the school can lead to a student being expelled under both state law and the school’s own policies.
When a reporter referenced a mid-November incident in which two students deployed pepper spray in a school hallway, Narain noted that the Journal had reported that story earlier and said, “you can surmise … that these students had to have been involved in one of those level five incidents. It obviously qualified.”
Narain said that “when a student brings a weapon into school or to a school function and uses that weapon, threatens to use that weapon, it is actually state law…that that student shall be referred for expulsion.”
The Journal reported Nov. 18 that the pepper spray was deployed by two students on the school’s third floor during a passing period. That led to the school being put on a “Hold” for 40 minutes while staff treated those who had been impacted by the pepper spray, deescalate the situation and cleaned the area, according to the school’s safety director.
The Journal asked Oak Park police for a more complete description of the incident. In an email Thursday Dan Yopchick, the village’s spokesperson, wrote that police responded to the high school just before 10 a.m. on Nov. 17 in reference to a reported battery.
A female student told police she was talking with a friend on the third floor when a group of seven other female students approached her and “one dropped her backpack while saying ‘what you wanna do.'” The student told police the same group of students had “jumped” her at school a year ago and so she used pepper spray toward the group.
According to the police statement, “two people among the seven then pulled out pepper spray and deployed.” The statement said two other members of the group then began to hit the young woman as OPRF staff arrived and began to separate those involved in the altercation.
With first semester finals taking place next week, the students who were expelled and their families are now working with administrators to finish out this semester — “not necessarily physically in the building,” said Narain. When the second semester begins in January, he said, the students will attend school at West 40, a nonprofit service center that works with schools in West Cook County to provide education to at-risk and/or expelled youth.
OPRF’s Behavior Education Plan focuses on restorative practices as opposed to zero-tolerance policies.
“This behavior education plan really protects the students’ rights to recognize that they are always going to be works in progress as long as they’re our students, and we expect students to make mistakes and learn from them,” said Narain.
He said restorative justice is mostly about restoring the harm that was caused by any given situation through a range of approaches including conflict resolution, the use of “peace rooms” for students to relax and many more.
The plan works to limit the number and duration of expulsions and out-of-school suspensions to the greatest extent practicable. Expulsions are considered when the behavior affects the health, safety or property of the school, school personnel, other students or oneself.
The plan has reduced the number of disciplinary out-of-school suspensions since its implementation, with the 2022-2023 school year having 51 out-of-school suspensions and the 2024-2025 school year having 27, a 47% reduction.
Expulsions at OPRF have become very rare. A district official said OPRF has averaged less than one expulsion per year over the past five years.
Narain says even for students up for expulsion, the expulsion process is an opportunity for the restorative practices to occur in one of the many steps in the process and doesn’t always lead to expulsion.
“It’s reviewed by the deans and the counselors and social workers before it goes to a hearing. The hearing is an opportunity for due process for the student and the family is able to speak and give their side of the events and provide any information,” he said. “There are plenty of places where the process actually can stop, and it does not always end up going to a board vote.”
Narain said the reason why it doesn’t stop, in some cases, is because administrators have a responsibility to the school community and its safety.
He also notes it’s important to remember that expulsions are often not permanent, and that in some cases, students that complete that time in the alternative school environment are eligible to return to OPRF.
“We work very hard to still partner with these families. These students might return here. We’re not cutting any cords,” said Narain.
