Talking back to the teacher in class? Detention. Arriving late to class every day? Suspension.
Discipline in schools has followed that pattern for generations, but a new philosophy of restorative justice is taking hold at schools throughout Durango.
“When I was an assistant principal at Durango High School, I found it to be far more effective than more punitive measures,” said Cito Nuhn, principal of Miller Middle School, which is phasing in a restorative-justice model that will begin in the fall. “There are five key parts to restorative practice – respect, responsibility, relationships, repair and reintegration.”
The efforts differ within Durango School District 9-R. Elementary schools are working on mindfulness and helping students understand how they are feeling and how their actions impact others. Both middle schools and Durango High School have included elements of the practice in disciplinary actions, and Miller will serve as a pilot and lab for other schools to see how it works in full implementation.
In an example, Nuhn told about a group of students that was misbehaving in a class.
“The teacher allowed herself to be vulnerable and shared in a sad way how their behavior affected her,” Nuhn said. “Those students got to see how someone who is human felt. We had a great conversation, and they really understood what they had done.”
The practice takes significantly more time for administrators and teachers, Nuhn said.
“It used to be one and done, here’s your discipline: three lunch detentions,” Nuhn said. “This takes time, 40 minutes at least.”
Big Picture High School in February instituted a Fairness Committee of one teacher, one underclassman and one senior. The group has addressed nine complaints this year, adviser Dreher Robertson said.
“I analyzed lunch detentions for a month and found that about 85 percent were there for repeated infractions of the same behavior, so it was clear lunch detentions weren’t working,” Robertson said.
The most surprising result was the change throughout the school after the committee was founded.
“We saw an immediate change in behavior in classrooms,” he said. “The biggest piece of that, the biggest influence, was having to sit and admit wrongdoing, own up to the behavior and repair the relationship in front of other students, which is a lot more work.”
Appearing before the Fairness Committee is voluntary, but it is not an option for serious offenses, such as bringing drugs to school.
“Alain (Big Picture Principal Alain Henry) is very clear about the consequences,” Robertson said. “Choosing not to go to the committee immediately results in punitive action, because you’re unwilling to solve the problem.”
One of the first students who went before the committee was a 17-year-old.
“He was coming late to school and leaving early and not communicating with his teacher,” Robertson said. “He came in to the committee and started talking about truancy law, and we had to tell him that wasn’t why he was there. ‘We’re here to talk about your teacher feeling disrespected, about your classmates seeing you disrespect your teacher,’ we told him. It changed the whole conversation.”
The committee worked with the student to form an agreement.
“Every day, he makes a plan for what he’s going to do,” Robertson said. “When he finishes, he checks with his adviser and calls his mother, and if they agree, he can leave early.”
At Animas High School, a restorative-justice philosophy is morphing into more full-scale use with a committee of nine students.
“There’s no research that says the punitive approach works,” Head of School Sean Woytek said. “We’re all about community, and restorative justice helps students learn from a mistake and brings them back into the community. It also helps other students learn from the mistake.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted several studies on adverse childhood experiences that can affect how children and youths respond to discipline. An adverse experience can include sexual, emotional or physical abuse, exposing children to violent situations such as domestic violence, neglect or family pressures such as homelessness or food insecurity.
The physiology of adolescent brains explains why restorative justice is effective, and understanding that physiology may help students rethink their behavior.
“Our students lit up when we started talking about the adolescent brain,” said Christopher Calagias, another adviser at Big Picture. “We tie in all the neuroscience we can in health classes.”
Nick Turco, who will graduate from Animas High on Friday, studied the neurobiology of adolescents subject to the school-to-prison pipeline for his senior project. At-risk youth, who tend to skew heavily to low-income and minority students, are particularly impacted by punitive school discipline, he said.
“There is a flood of neuroscience research to navigate,” Turco told the District 9-R school board in April. “But their brains haven’t built the pathways they need to be able to cope with punitive discipline.”
School needs to be their safe place, he said, because what’s happening at home is so difficult.
abutler@durangoherald.com
Flagstaff Academy Handbook (PDF)
Updated 9-R activities code (PDF)
Committee will present revised activities code
Playing in a sport or participating in an activity at Durango District 9-R schools is considered a privilege, and with it comes responsibilities.
On Tuesday, the Healthy Choices Committee will present its revised Athletic/Activity Handbook and Code of Conduct to the 9-R school board, including consequences and a restorative justice option.
“The biggest difference is the opportunity for reduction in the time the student has to sit out of their sport or activity if they agree to participate in an evaluation and agree to the education, restorative practices and requirements determined as appropriate based on the evaluation,” said Leanne Garcia, principal of Durango High School and co-chairman of the Healthy Choices Committee.
Restorative practices could include apologizing to team or fellow club members after an infraction, talking circles and finding ways to make amends.
The revised code also says students can not participate if they are failing any class. Currently, they can have a failing grade in one class.
The revisions came about after students from two teams, the boys junior varsity soccer team and boys cross country team, were suspended for having drug and alcohol paraphernalia and partaking of the substances while on team trips last fall. The committee of 20, including school administrators, parents and community partners, has met every other week since early November to work on the code.
abutler@durangoherald.com
What is restorative justice?
Restorative justice entails understanding the impact of one’s behavior on others, apologizing when possible and finding ways to make amends. It is done without shaming or blaming the offender, and requires that victims feel safe and heard.
There’s a vocabulary to restorative judgement, said Cito Nuhn, principal at Miller Middle School.
“Instead of ‘Why did you do this?’” Nuhn said, “we ask ‘What are you feeling?’ ‘What happened?’ ‘What led to this?’ There’s a process of dialogue that involves deep listening and agreed upon outcomes that are intended to strengthen relationships.”
Two factors must be in place for restorative justice to work between victim and offender, said mediation specialist Tricia Winslow, who works with La Plata Youth Services in supporting programs in area schools.
“You have to make sure the offender is truly remorseful,” she said. “And you have to make sure the victim has dealt with the anger and frustration, so they can listen with an open mind. The moderator must make sure no one gets bullied.”
