A Student Restorative Justice Team uses restorative practices to prevent crime and conflict in their schools. This youth-centered project increases empathy and conflict resolution skills for both the referred students as well as the youth leaders, facilitators and mediators on the team.

Problem

When facing crime and conflict in schools, often teacher, administrator and school resource officer tools are limited to suspensions, expulsions, tickets and other punishments. In 2008-09, St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) School Resource Officers (SROs) arrested 236 juveniles and 1172 students were suspended or expelled. Of those suspended or expelled, 33% were Latino youth, disproportionate to the 27% Latino population in the schools. In the 2009-10 school year, 63000 days of unexcused absences occurred and over 1800 students were suspended or expelled. (CO Dept of Education 2011) Criminalizing school-based offenses has led to accusations of a schools-to-prison pipeline in which academic failure, dropout rates, truancy and exclusionary discipline practices are key elements.

Solution

LCJP offers the only restorative alternative to using the criminal justice system or serious school consequences to reduce crime and conflict in the SVVSD. Restorative Justice (RJ) strengthens community, builds accountability and focuses on harm and repair in a way that can help reduce the likelihood of re-offense. Students often have no means of repairing harm caused by their behavior, leaving both the victim and offender feeling isolated. Furthermore, students have little opportunity for school-bonding and successful reintegration once an incident has occurred. RJ increases empathy by giving the victim the chance for equal voice; the offender the opportunity to discover how the victim, community and himself/herself have been affected; repairing harm to the fullest extent possible; teaching students to be peer leaders by empowering youth to take the lead in RJ process; and keeping students in school and out of the justice system. RJ directly breaks the schools-to-prison pipeline.

Example

In the Pilot Project (PP), the full spectrum of discipline offenses—from repeated classroom disruption to relational issues between students to possession of drugs to assault—can be addressed using a restorative intervention led by a trained team of middle and high school students. Referrals come to a coordinator from school personnel, school resource officers, and students themselves, and are then assigned to members of the Student RJ Team who can lead—in either English or Spanish—Connection Circles for community building, Restorative Mediation for relationship problems, and Solution Circles when an offense has occurred. The lifecycle of each of these processes is based on the principles of relationship, respect, responsibility, repair, and reintegration. The members of the Student RJ Team facilitate repairing harm to the fullest extent possible by giving equal voice to all participants, identifying how each person has been affected and creating a restorative agreement. In the 2010-11 school year, 89% of the 100 referred students completed their agreements, 111 days of suspension were prevented (an increase of 777 school hours), 52 tickets/court referrals were avoided, and 6 students who would have been expelled were able to remain in school. In addition, 95% of process participants—victims, offenders, school personnel, student community representatives and parents—reported that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the restorative process. The PP directly addresses the need to keep students in school, enhance empathy, and reduce crime and conflict in our schools.

Marketplace

The Pilot Project (PP) is the result of a partnership with the Longmont Police Department School Resource Officer (SRO) Program and the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) who are also working to reduce crime, suspensions and expulsions in the schools. In an effort to include all stakeholders, one of the SVVSD Area Assistant Superintendents, the SROs of all the pilot schools, two representatives from school administration, the Sergeant of the Longmont SROs, City of Longmont Children, Youth and Family Services and RJ field experts sit on an Advisory Group for the PP to solidify the collaborative relationship necessary for continued partnership. Currently, we are the only organization offering a restorative alternative in the SVVSD, as well as in the Longmont community.