Off-campus lunch privileges have long been a topic of debate. Offering the privilege as an incentive for improved attendance first came to West Campus Principal Dr. Alexia Ellett, who visited English classes in August. A question prominently received from students was whether or not LP could take part in off-campus lunch.
Seniors are now able to leave campus for lunch, but with a catch.
Absenteeism has become a major issue at Lake Park. This year Lake Park High School has a 22% rate of chronic absenteeism. In 2023 absenteeism had been just as big of an issue with 25% of Lake Park’s student body being chronically absent.
According to the Illinois Report Card, for a student to be considered “chronically absent” they miss at least 10% of school days within the school year excused or not,which is roughly 18 days of an average 180 day school year.
For LP students to be successful, attendance is key.
“Being in school helps students to feel connected and a sense of belonging which leads them to do better academically, all of which are a huge priority,” Dr. Ellett said.
“Being present really values the classroom experience and what teachers are trying to do for students.”
Resulting from the many unplanned senior ditch days, seniors are a major contributing factor to the absentee pool. Compared to the freshman class with only 15.5% of its class chronically absent, seniors lead with 28.1%. To ensure that students are maximizing their full potential the administration is seeking solutions to this lingering issue.
Implementing this incentive allows Lake Park students to take accountability for their chronic absenteeism. Receiving this privilege comes with the responsibility of having to come to school consistently and on time. Considering how new the system is and how extensively the senior class makes up for absences, seniors are currently only allowed to participate.
In order to receive off campus lunch for a one-week period, seniors must not be absent regardless of an excused or unexcused reason and avoid any tardies whatsoever for a designated two week period. Leaving during lunch offers a sense of independence that can contribute to better habits and a successful future.
“Having off campus lunch is a really nice break in between the school day. I love being able to go to Starbucks and get my mid-day pick me up,” Vicky Spiewak (LP ‘25) said.
Off-campus encourages students to enable better habits of time management which will ultimately benefit them now and in the future. Additionally, off-campus offers local small businesses an opportunity to make a profit.
Dr. Ellett said that teachers are highly in support of the incentive as it allows them to conduct class more efficiently without the disruption of having to get students caught up on absent work.
“Teachers are very much in support of it, they were excited about it. Some former LP alumni teachers even wanted to know why they didn’t have such an incentive in their time,” Dr. Ellett said.
Dr. Ellett is optimistic that students will be intrigued by the idea of leaving for lunch resulting in improvements of their daily routines.
Neighboring schools such as Glenbard West have been successful in keeping the incentive open for students. Similar to Lake Park’s requirements for off-campus, Glenbard West also requires its students to be in attendance for a certain period of time with a certain grade criteria. Although many students and staff did mention the idea of offering an incentive for grades, Dr. Ellett is currently most concerned with students being in school in the first place. However, over time we can be optimistic of seeing an improvement in grades without an incentive as attendance may be the key to resolving other issues.
