Joliet Public Schools District 86 — Policy Analysis 2026
Grand Total
77 / 106
72.6%
Base Score
68 / 96
Extra Credit
9 / 10
Score by Section
| Section | Score | Max | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culturally Responsive Training | 3 | 8 | Notes |
| Clear & Consistent Policies | 6 | 8 | Notes |
| Restorative Justice Practices | 3 | 8 | Notes |
| Bias Awareness & Mitigation | 6 | 8 | Notes |
| Culturally Relevant Curriculum | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Community Engagement & Collaboration | 8 | 8 | Notes |
| Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Data Collection & Analysis | 8 | 8 | Notes |
| Student Voice & Leadership | 6 | 8 | Notes |
| Equitable Access to Support Services | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Continuous Evaluation & Improvement | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Extra Credit | 9 | 10 | Notes |
Suggestions to Improve the Score
Every item below its maximum, worst gap first, with the reviewer's own notes as the rationale.
Show suggestions (25)
- 1.2 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mentorship programs for culturally diverse staff — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of a mentorship program specifically targeted at culturally/racially diverse staff; only a general New Teacher Mentor role was found, not diversity-specific.
- 3.4 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Peer mediation program — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation of a formal peer mediation program was found for Joliet District 86.
- 5.4 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Culturally specific courses/electives — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of courses/electives specifically designed around particular cultural or ethnic content; electives found (band, choir, orchestra, world languages) are general, not culturally specific.
- 7.4 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Participation in equity-focused conferences — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found confirming staff participation in external equity-focused conferences.
- 1.1 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mandatory cultural competency training for all staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's Equity Policy commits the Superintendent to continually address equity through ongoing PD, and the Strategic Plan calls for a 'comprehensive professional learning plan, centered around equity and cultural responsiveness, to educate all employee groups,' but there is no confirmation this is a single mandatory annual training for all staff. https://go.boarddocs.com/il/joli…
- 1.3 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Culturally relevant PD resources in staff learning — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Strategic Plan Action 1-2 calls for developing 'a comprehensive professional learning plan, centered around equity and cultural responsiveness,' indicating resources are planned/in-progress rather than a confirmed existing library of culturally relevant PD resources.
- 1.4 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Regular feedback/measurement on training effectiveness — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Equity Policy states the Board will annually review the district-wide professional development plan addressing equity and review results of 'equity audits, including recommendations and actions taken,' showing some feedback loop but not a documented training-effectiveness measurement tool. https://go.boarddocs.com/il/joliet86/Board.nsf/goto?open=&id=CRGTYH756854
- 2.3 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Staff training on consistent application — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Illinois law requires biennial in-service training on educator ethics/teacher-student conduct for all staff, and the Strategic Plan calls for a 'professional development plan to build staff capacity for successful implementation of the MTSS framework,' but no district document confirms specific training on consistent disciplinary application. https://www.isbe.net/Documents_MSAFE/Mandated-Trainings-Il…
- 2.4 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Centralized documentation of incidents/outcomes — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). State-mandated Illinois Report Card data collection tracks district Student Discipline metrics, and the district operates a documented Bully Hotline/report form, but no centralized district-run incident-outcomes database was publicly confirmed. https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?Districtid=56099086005
- 3.1 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Restorative circles/conferences to repair harm — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Strategic Plan's Action Plan 1-1 calls for developing 'a comprehensive framework and implementation plan for restorative practices,' and in 2026 the district began training a Student Advisory Group in 'Community Building Circles,' indicating restorative circle practices are emerging but not yet confirmed as fully district-wide/mandatory. https://www.thetimesweekly.com/education/joliet-dis…
- 3.2 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Staff training in restorative practices — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's strategic plan commits to expanding MTSS to include 'Restorative Practices' and developing staff PD plans, but no evidence confirms staff-wide restorative-practices training has been completed district-wide.
- 3.3 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Curriculum integrates conflict-resolution skills — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Strategic Plan emphasizes that 'emotional intelligence is foundational to healthy relationships and behavioral accountability' and the district's PALS and Thompson Center programs focus on developing coping and social skills, though a formal conflict-resolution curriculum strand was not confirmed. https://www.joliet86.org/page/special-education-programs/
- 4.3 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Cultural competence checks in hiring — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Strategic Plan calls to 'Optimize Human Resources hiring practices to provide an inclusive and equitable process' with diverse representation on hiring teams, and HR materials state a commitment to a 'talented and diverse workforce,' but no explicit cultural-competence screening tool in hiring was confirmed. https://joliet86.schoolspring.com/?jobid=5086493
- 4.4 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Diverse perspectives & materials in curriculum — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's Multilingual Learners Department states it will 'embrace, respect, and build upon the unique cultural and linguistic characteristics that students and families bring,' and the Strategic Plan calls to streamline curriculum with an equity lens, though a systematic curriculum audit for diverse materials was not confirmed. https://www.joliet86.org/page/multilingual-learners/
- 5.1 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Curriculum materials reflect student backgrounds — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). District 86 operates Transitional Bilingual Education (Spanish) and ESL programs reflecting its predominantly Hispanic/multilingual student population, and the Strategic Plan commits to streamlining curriculum with equity in mind, though broad confirmation that core curriculum materials reflect all student backgrounds was not found. https://www.joliet86.org/page/multilingual-learners/
- 5.2 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Teacher PD on integrating diverse perspectives — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Strategic Plan calls for developing 'a comprehensive professional learning plan, centered around equity and cultural responsiveness, to educate all employee groups,' indicating this PD is planned/underway rather than confirmed as an established ongoing program.
- 7.2 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Workshops on culturally responsive teaching — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Strategic Plan commits to developing a professional learning plan 'centered around equity and cultural responsiveness,' but this appears to still be in development rather than a confirmed recurring workshop series.
- 8.2 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Safe, supportive spaces (mindfulness/sensory) — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's PALS program and Thompson Instructional Center are designed to help students 'develop the internal control and frustration tolerance level' and coping skills, suggestive of supportive spaces, though no explicit mindfulness/sensory room program was confirmed district-wide. https://www.joliet86.org/page/special-education-programs/
- 8.3 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Trauma-informed staff training — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The Strategic Plan explicitly names expansion of 'Trauma Informed Practices' as part of the MTSS framework development, indicating this is a planned/in-progress initiative rather than a confirmed completed staff-wide training.
- 8.4 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Partnerships to expand mental-health services — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The handbook references the district's 'Suicide and Depression Awareness and Prevention Program' and a Superintendent duty to build relationships with community mental health agencies, showing partnership intent though not a fully documented expanded-services program for D86 specifically. https://files-backend.assets.thrillshare.com/.../26-27-Handbook-Final-English-for-Printing-and…
- 10.3 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Students facilitate restorative processes — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Advisory Group students 'will receive Community Building Circles training equipping them to facilitate meaningful conversations,' a direct but newly-launched and limited-scale (27 students, junior-high only) step toward students facilitating restorative processes. https://www.thetimesweekly.com/education/joliet-district-86-launches-junior-high-student-advisory-group-fe3b6f6e
- 10.4 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student-led peer education — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The trained Advisory Group members are tasked to 'listen to peers and gather student feedback at their schools,' a limited/early form of student-led peer engagement rather than a full peer-education program.
- 11.4 [Equitable Access to Support Services]: Systems to remove access barriers — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district designates Homeless Liaisons to help with enrollment, transportation, clothing, and supplies, and local reporting notes the district tries to ensure 'at least one front office person who speaks Spanish' in every building, though a comprehensive barrier-removal system was not fully documented. https://www.joliet86.org/departments/mckinney-vento-act-homeless-students/
- 12.3 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Benchmarking vs. state/national comparators — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). District objectives explicitly track that 'overall performance on District and state assessments will increase annually,' and the Illinois Report Card allows state/district comparison, but no formal national benchmarking process for discipline specifically was confirmed. https://www.joliet86.org/page/about-the-district/
- EC5 [Extra Credit]: Newly launched, trimester-meeting Junior High Student Advisory Group (27 students across all 4 junior highs) trained in 'Community Building Circles' to gather peer feedback - an innovative, if still nascent, structural mechanism linking restorative practice training directly to student voice/governance. — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2026/10/23/joliet-school-district-86-names-new-student-advisory-group/
Source Documents Used
Show source documents (1)
| Document | Date | Local Copy | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joliet Public Schools District 86 Scoring Sheet | 2026 | Open file | file:///C:/_CSSD/CSSDWebsite/cssdisc.org_htdocs/DistrictPolicies/Joliet_Public_Schools_District_86/2026/Joliet_Public_Schools_District_86_Scoring_Sheet.xlsx |