Report: At Byrne Elementary School, Black student rule-breaking rate notably exceeds that of Hispanic students

Byrne Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Gallo (2023) | Byrne Elementary School

By Chicago City Wire

Nov 28, 2023

Black students, constituting 2.1% or 13 of Byrne Elementary School's total student population of 610, accounted for one out of the two total suspensions (50%) in the 2021-22 school year, averaging one suspension per 13 students, according to the latest student discipline report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

During the same period, Byrne Elementary School's 416 Hispanic students, who make up 68.2% of the school population, received one suspension. This translates to an average of one suspension per 416 Hispanic students, which is definitively lower than that of Black students, making them the best-behaved racial group in the school.

Of the two total suspensions at Byrne Elementary School in the 2021-22 school year, one was in-school suspension and one out-of-school suspension.

According to the report, in the 2021-22 school year, one student suspension at Byrne Elementary School was for a violence-related offense.

The most common infraction causing suspension was violence offenses, tallying one cases - 50% of the total infractions.

During the 2021-22 school year, Byrne Elementary School reported 181 students - equivalent to 29.7% of its student body - as chronically truant, meaning they had a repeated pattern of unexcused lateness or missing classes. In addition, 203 students, or 33.2% 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.

Byrne Elementary School Infractions by Black Students Over 5 Years