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 hearts and souls, that children want to learn from their mistakes and restore relationships. They want the opportunity to heal.
Look at the madly divisive country in which we live and imagine what it might be like if restoration skills had been taught in schools when we were growing up. Imagine what your school experience would have been like if you felt heard, if you learned to defend yourself and you were given an opportunity to ask for what you needed. How would that translate into your career, your adult relationships? Ours is a global community and it is critical for our future as a nation on a world stage that our children learn collaboration and restorative justice skills.
So. For the skeptics, let’s break down what removing police from schools really means and why you don’t need to fear it. When our school system pivots away from militarizing our children’s places of learning and establishes a truly safe space for learning, they would do the following:
- Utilize Restorative Practices within the PBIS framework which include peer counseling, mediation, restorative circles and conferences. A restorative philosophy emphasizes problem-solving approaches to discipline.
Restorative circles, in particular, are a great means of not just applying justice but teaching students how to learn from their mistakes and come to an agreement on appropriate measures to restore both the aggrieved and the aggressor in a conflict. Using restorative circles effectively encourages critical thinking and empowers students to move through and past interpersonal conflict.
- Establish a School Culture and Climate Team (SCCT) at every school consisting of the lead school counselor, school social worker, support staff, and senior level students.
An SCCT has the training necessary to look beyond the immediacy of a conflict, address underlying issues and establish a plan that addresses the needs of the students involved. The object is to create a way to reset and move forward.
- Emphasize peace-keeping and restorative justice in school security.
- Provide access to counselors and social workers with a background in trauma-informed practices and behavioral and mental health at each school.
Often children who are dismissed in their schools as being hopelessly misbehaved are trapped in patterns created by trauma. Students who undergo severe difficulties at home or at school and are unable to process trauma they have experienced make mistakes at school and act out. Once they are branded “difficult” they find themselves on a slippery slope to the school to prison pipeline. Early intervention with trained professionals could literally save their lives.
- Train school staff on trauma informed practices.
- Training for administrators, teachers and staff to serve as effective de-escalation intervention practitioners.
- Ongoing training for school staff on classroom management.
- Ongoing cultural competency training for all GCPS staff.
- Implement culturally relevant curriculum.
- Reduce the amount of discretion in the Student Code of Conduct.
Vagaries in the Student Code of Conduct leads to huge inconsistencies in how the codes are enforced. Data demonstrates that children of color and children with disabilities are much more likely to be more severely punished for minor infractions. Clear and narrowly-defined rules ensure that children receive equitable discipline and helps enable children working through restorative circles.
We call upon the Gwinnett County community to join us in envisioning an educational system that looks beyond traditional models to data-driven concepts that benefit our most vulnerable students as well as the kids who will flourish in any style of learning. We require education that is meaningful and inspirational to all children regardless of their background. We need staff capable of assessing students struggling with trauma and learning disabilities. Police in schools may comfort some parents, but they further traumatize others needlessly. If we can afford police, guns and tasers, we can afford a system that benefits all students equally.