Giving Compass' Take:

• Austin Achieve Public School has adopted a restorative justice program that supports students' emotional development and uses mindfulness sessions to reduce suspension rates. 

• Restorative justice is about giving students support, which may require more resources. Is this an opportunity for education donors?

• Read more about the benefits of restorative justice in schools. 

Even in elementary school, Luz Annette got into a lot of fights with other girls. In the hallways, in the cafeteria, in the girls’ restroom. Just about every day brought another confrontation.

These were not just shouting matches. Luz, who is now in eighth grade, was getting into physical altercations with her classmates. “When you get in an argument, you just straight up go and fight,” the 14-year-old says, describing a lesson that was ingrained in her at a young age.

But Luz doesn’t get in fights anymore—not since the one she was involved in at the beginning of the school year, which she says was her last.

But at Austin Achieve Public Schools, a K-12 school where Luz is enrolled now, in-school suspension is not an option. In fact, the school stopped suspending students altogether in 2015, after administrators realized the practice was denying their most at-risk students important social, emotional and academic reinforcements.

Instead, the public charter school has embraced “restorative justice,” an alternative disciplinary approach that exposes students to mindfulness exercises, one-on-one counseling and group therapy sessions with a social worker.

Restorative justice emphasizes repairing harm, rebuilding relationships and rehabilitating the offender over meting out punishments for infractions. As more research and case studies come out in support of restorative justice programs, schools are increasingly turning to the approach to reduce suspension rates (which disproportionately affect students of color) and improve graduation rates.

“At most schools, when kids do something suspension-worthy, you take away support,” says Reece Hartle, the middle school principal at Austin Achieve. “At our school, they get more support.”

Read the full article about restorative justice by Emily Tate at EdSurge.