Brooklyn Community Foundation to launch restorative justice pilot program in four Brooklyn schools

June 22, 2015 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Brooklyn Community Foundation Director of Community Leadership Tynesha McHarris discusses restorative justice and school discipline with Brooklyn youth. Photo Credit: Brooklyn Community Foundation

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Four Brooklyn middle and high schools will implement pioneering restorative justice practices next school year thanks to a new pilot program from Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF) in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s School Climate and Discipline Leadership Team.

The BCF is leading the effort to develop a model for school-based disciplinary reform that can be scaled across the entire New York City school system. It aims to foster effective, sustainable and racially just restorative justice programs.

Restorative justice is defined as a philosophy and practice that empowers all affected by an incident — including victims, offenders and their supporters — to decide collectively how to reconcile and repair harm, according to the BCF. In schools across the country, restorative justice programs have been highly successful at reducing suspensions, arrests and incidents of violence.

The pilot program will focus on reforming disciplinary approaches that disproportionately and unfairly impact young people of color and students with special needs.

“At the end of the next four years, we hope to have a new model that can change the way our schools address discipline, positively impacting students for the rest of their lives,” said Brooklyn Community Foundation President Cecilia Clarke. “We know that suspensions don’t just take children out of the classroom temporarily — they often factor into students dropping out of school or getting involved in the criminal justice system, especially among young people of color. We want schools to be safe and supportive environments for all students.”

The program will launch this September in Science Skills Center High School in Downtown Brooklyn, Ebbets Field Middle School in Crown Heights, the School for Democracy and Leadership in East Flatbush, and the Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies in Coney Island. Schools were selected by the New York City Department of Education in consultation with the Mayor’s Leadership Team.

The pilot program’s effectiveness and impact will be measured by indicators that include reduced disciplinary incidents, improved attendance, higher rates of grade passing and/or credit accumulation, as well as positive trends on relevant Learning Environment Survey measures.

“When students struggle, we need to support them to come together and work out a resolution,” said Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Advisor at the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the Co-chair of the Leadership Team on School Climate and Discipline. “Restorative Justice Practices are based on the notion that we can involve students in the creation of a school environment that is not only safe, but one that dignifies students and improves learning.”

Brooklyn Community Foundation is the first and only public grant making charity dedicated to New York City’s largest borough. In 2015, the Foundation is launching a 3-part strategy focused on Brooklyn’s youth, neighborhoods, and nonprofit sector. The restorative justice partnership is a priority program through the Foundation’s new 10-year Invest in Youth initiative, which aims to improve opportunities and outcomes for vulnerable youth in Brooklyn.