Copyright Chicago Tribune
Glenbrook High School District 225 School Board members at their Nov. 10 meeting questioned administrators about student absenteeism rates amid a largely positive performance on the Illinois Report Card. In the Illinois State Board of Education’s annual report, Glenbrook North rated “exemplary” – meaning it had no underperforming student groups and ranked in the top 10% of public schools in the state for academic performance and student success. Glenbrook South was rated “commendable,” though an administrator suggested it just barely missed the cutoff for “exemplary.” According to data shared by Ryan Bretag, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, Glenbrook South scored just below the 10% benchmark for “exemplary,” missing by less than half a point on a 100-point scoring table. “Quite honestly, I’m disappointed the state recorded Glenbrook South as commendable, given how far they’ve come,” said Bretag. Both schools received the maximum scores for English, math, science proficiency and graduation rates, far outpacing state averages in each of those categories. Altogether, District 225 recorded an English and language arts proficiency rate of 84% and math proficiency rate of 79.6% for the 2024-25 school year. The district posted similarly strong scores during the prior school year, when both schools were rated “commendable.” Improvements in student response to school climate surveys largely drove improvement in both schools’ summative designation (its score out of 100). Bretag said the district had complained to the ISBE about its scoring system and believed forthcoming changes to the state’s model would lead to Glenbrook South receiving an “exemplary” designation in the future. One continued area for improvement for the district is student attendance: though both high schools post lower chronic absenteeism rates than the state, some 13.1% of Glenbrook North students and 19.2% of Glenbrook South students missed 10% or more of all school days in an academic year, with or without a valid excuse, according to the Illinois Report Card. “Does that mean 16% have been out 18 or more days?” asked School Board member Skip Shein. (The chronic absenteeism rate for the entire district came out to 16.7%.) “That’s a lot.” About a third of low-income, English learner, and Hispanic students were chronically absent, according to district documents. Bretag said that administrators were working to improve their data collection on absenteeism and focusing on groups with high absenteeism rates, adding that administrators were partnering with the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee to improve attendance for English learners. Superintendent RJ Gravel said the district was taking a “carrot and stick” approach, piloting a program that would allow some upperclassmen to leave campus during their study hall period while requiring students who continued to miss class to justify their absence with doctor’s notes or similar documentation. “You go through positive reinforcement, and you go through refining your approach of how you navigate absences,” Gravel said.
