Restoring Accountability
Hamilton County Schools, like many other school districts across the US, report a disproportionate number of black and brown students being suspended, expelled, and thrown into juvenile detainment. According to the HCS Educational Equity Plan Report, Dec. 2021, Black, African American students are disproportionately suspended, expelled and remanded to juvenile justice system.
This overuse of exclusionary discipline decreases our youths' chances to succeed within our communities and the school system by increasing risk factors and involvement with the criminal justice system. The cycle of misbehavior, exclusionary discipline, isolation, increased risk, and involvement with the justice system has been coined "The School to Prison Pipeline.” CALEB has committed our time and resources to tackle this social issue affecting our students now and in the future. In the 2019-20 school year, UnifiEd piloted a Restorative Justice program at Orchard Knob Elementary, ensuring all 2nd and 4th-grade teachers had sufficient training to implement sharing circles and participate in Restorative Justice Practices. CALEB has built on this progress by supporting a two-year implementation strategy at the school, complete with full staff training, coaching, and research feedback.
CALEB's desire is to support an effective, district-wide implementation plan for Hamilton County Schools that equips teachers and support staff with accountability in the classroom while reducing the harm to students from exclusionary discipline. To do this requires that the plan must be funded, researched and reviewed, and rolled out in a way that ensures fidelity to best practices long-term.
To learn more about the restorative practices pilot program and what the research on discipline shows, cycle through the pages below:
This overuse of exclusionary discipline decreases our youths' chances to succeed within our communities and the school system by increasing risk factors and involvement with the criminal justice system. The cycle of misbehavior, exclusionary discipline, isolation, increased risk, and involvement with the justice system has been coined "The School to Prison Pipeline.” CALEB has committed our time and resources to tackle this social issue affecting our students now and in the future. In the 2019-20 school year, UnifiEd piloted a Restorative Justice program at Orchard Knob Elementary, ensuring all 2nd and 4th-grade teachers had sufficient training to implement sharing circles and participate in Restorative Justice Practices. CALEB has built on this progress by supporting a two-year implementation strategy at the school, complete with full staff training, coaching, and research feedback.
CALEB's desire is to support an effective, district-wide implementation plan for Hamilton County Schools that equips teachers and support staff with accountability in the classroom while reducing the harm to students from exclusionary discipline. To do this requires that the plan must be funded, researched and reviewed, and rolled out in a way that ensures fidelity to best practices long-term.
To learn more about the restorative practices pilot program and what the research on discipline shows, cycle through the pages below: