Gwinnett County Students, Caregivers, and Educators Demand Safety and Justice, not Criminalization in Open Letter Monday, November 14, 2022 Contact: 678-358-3217, young.ga.justice@gmail.com GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. – Georgia Youth Justice Coalition and Gwinnett County students, caregivers, and educators, alongside partners Gwinnett SToPP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Gwinnett County NAACP, released an open letter […]
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WoA 2022: Building the Schools our Communities Deserve NOW!
Gwinnett SToPP represented again for the 2022 Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) National Week of Action (WoA). This year’s WoA was Saturday, October 8th through Sunday, October 16th. The theme was “Building the Schools our Communities Deserve NOW!” Gwinnett SToPP hosted two events to commemorate the week. Our first event included two panel discussions and […]
Senate Bill 42: Moving Backwards
ADVOCACY ALERT! Georgia Senate Bill 42 (SB 42) would remove student discipline from the school climate star rating indicator on our school’s report card. Gwinnett SToPP successfully advocated for the inclusion of student discipline in the indicator to make sure that a student’s entire school experience was considered when determining school climate. Georgia’s children are […]
7 Demands for A New Vision of Safety for GCPS
Gwinnett SToPP has worked to end overly harsh and ineffective discipline at Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) since our founding in 2008. We won the demand to denote Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) violations in the GCPS Student/Parent Handbook that could result in a referral to a School Resource Officer (SRO) and possible criminal […]
Join PLI! Application is Now Open
It has been quite a year for social justice advocacy, especially combating anti-Black racism. We have re-evaluated our strategies for supporting the community in this moment. Gwinnett SToPP has doubled-down on education and training – equipping parents, students, and community members with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate new and existing challenges to […]
ESSA and Biden
The Biden Administration’s Approach to the ESSA Act Gwinnett SToPP and education advocates around the country are anticipating major changes from the Biden-Harris Administration. President-elect Biden promises that the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed into law under the Obama-Biden Administration in 2015, will receive significant reinforcements, overturning the Trump Administration’s approach to stripping […]
WoA Kick Cops Out of Schools Virtual Event
Gwinnett SToPP went virtual for our 2020 Dignity In Schools Week of Action! Our ED, Marlyn Tillman joined three of our advocates (Amina, Rama, and Melody) to discuss Police Free Schools in Gwinnett County. We were also joined by civil rights attorney Adam Fernandez, Vice President of Policy and Strategic Engagement at Lawyers for Good […]
Queer Identities in the Classroom
TW: Suicide When we talk about policing in schools, the conversation is usually centered around race, which is an extremely important point to touch on; however, it is important to be intersectional in our approach, as stated before. Living in a heteronormative society, LGBTQ+ kids usually have such a difficult time navigating their identity and […]
Reimagining Safety in a Surveilled Community
A question I continuously revisit is if increased surveillance truly makes a population feel safe. Does the camera on every corner, police car in every lot, and metal detectors in schools actually make community members and students feel safer? I remember being in the 5th grade, and constantly worried about getting caught doing something wrong, […]
What Do You Want For Your Kids? Sign the Petition!
We aren’t asking to hobble administrators and leave teachers unable to manage their classrooms. We aren’t looking for anarchy. We are asking administrators and parents to remember that students are children. We are asking for a sensible vision that teaches children how to relate to each other with empathy. Data suggests and we know in our […]