Goal: Grassroots Alexandria joins our student-led allies in Tenants and Workers United as we ask for a school system that supports and educates our children using care-based approaches.
Background: We call on the Alexandria City Public Schools to improve graduation rates for Black and Brown students using care-based approaches. Specifically, we seek full implementation of restorative practices, leading to measurable reductions in student ‘behavioral events,’ suspensions and arrests. In the words of our student-led allies in Tenants and Workers United, we seek “care, not cops.” To effectively reach this goal, we need to act. But we also need to educate ourselves through reading, discussion, and practice.
Project: Restorative Practices
Action Plan: We are working to spread the use of Restorative Practices (RP) in the Alexandria Public School system via:
- Relationship-building: We are currently reaching out to members of the School Board, as well as to school system staff, local advocacy groups, parents of children in the school system, as well as points of contact in the VA juvenile justice system, to build contacts and understand the kind of comprehensive RP plan that could work for the Alexandria Public School System (ACPS).
- Research: In conjunction with our relationship-building efforts, we are gathering data and best practices related to RP. We are examining school systems in the DC, MD, and VA metro area and in other places where RP have been successful, e.g. Oakland Public Schools
Project leads: Phyllis Turner-Lawrence
Project Status: We are currently building our project team. New volunteers are welcome.
Challenges: One of the main challenges with implementing RP in Alexandria’s public schools is that historically, it has not been a part of the school system culture, so there is an aspect of shifting “hearts and minds” among administrators, teachers, and other staff to implement these kinds of practices that move away from a traditional punitive discipline approach and towards a healing approach that still emphasizes accountability along with the physical, mental, and emotional health of all students.