Schools in suburban Cook County ranked among the highest in the state for racial and ethnic disparities in suspensions and expulsions, according to a recent report from the Cook County Department of Public Health.
The department’s 2026 Restorative Practices report analyzed statewide data and gathered expertise from youth advocates aiming to replace standard “exclusionary discipline” policies, like suspensions, with a framework that focuses on “restorative practices.”
Restorative practices are strategies and tools that focus on communication instead of removing a student from a classroom. “The effects of exclusionary discipline reach all corners of a school, whether it be academics, school culture, or students’ sense of belonging when at school,” the report said…