ICSD has recently experienced disciplinary issues, ranging from poor behavior to fights, threats to teachers, and weapons on school grounds. It has been happening more and more, throwing ICSD classrooms into chaos and disorder. A leaked report authored by Ms. Elizabeth Quadrozzi, a sixth grade teacher at Dewitt Middle School, wrote that teachers are overwhelmed, with only 35.2 percent believing that their school is safe and 60.2 percent feeling that the district does not follow through on behavioral issues. Quadrozzi wrote the report on behalf of the teacher’s union, which is working to get the point across to Superintendent Brown and the district that these teachers are struggling.
According to the report, which was not intended for public release, teachers have been known to say that they “just stay in [their] classroom and shut the door.” The report also states that there are buildings without the proper number of Education Support Professionals (ESPs) in them. Teachers argue that the presence of more ESPs could help them to properly carry out the current district discipline system, which is a restorative justice model.
Restorative justice is a system in which typical punishments like suspensions are largely done away with. Proponents of the method argue that these punishment methods rob students of learning opportunities, disproportionately affect minorities, and are part of a “school-to-prison pipeline.” Instead of suspensions, restorative justice focuses on making amends with the wronged individual. “We want them to work ‘with’ students rather than doing things ‘to’ them,” says Troi Bechet, one of restorative justice’s greatest champions.
During the Obama administration, schools were issued guidelines on how many kids should be suspended. The administration warned that if it felt that a school was unfairly targeting minorities for suspension, it would be at risk of losing state funding. Moreover, Max Eden of the Manhattan Institute believes that the lack of perceived punishments leads to “dangerous dynamics in class,” where “teachers know they cannot rely on their principals (or administrators) for support and kids know that as well.”
The DeWitt report does support the model of restorative justice, but also makes some strong recommendations on how to properly implement that model. First and foremost among these recommendations is that the administrators stand by the teachers on disciplinary issues. Also suggested is a mental health audit by an independent party, an increase in mental health and special education professionals, and the district-wide standardization of consequences, so as to limit confusion about what punishments need be applied in a given scenario. A task force consisting of Superintendent Brown, Quadrozzi, district administration officials, a special education teacher, and a principal was created to help implement these changes.
As Dr. Brown said, “We have chosen to be inclusive and restorative, and that’s messy, that’s hard. It’s going to require us to be better each and every day versus the other way, the other way typically disenfranchises and marginalizes certain populations, we as a community have chosen not to do that.” The report demonstrates the imperfections of the current restorative justice system, but seeks to improve them and create a better learning environment.