Fix School Discipline Toolkit for Educators | Page 38

suspensions for willful defiance and disruption, and
take additional steps to ensure African American and
other disproportionately impacted students receive
all other means of correction prior to removal. The
implementation process is still in the beginning
stages. We are at the table with the District, pretty
much every week, with our sleeves rolled up.

What advice do you have for other
community organizations that want to
advocate for a similar alternative discipline
policy?
Monitoring implementation is the key. The role
of community and students is essential. To create
a sustainable program and not just a temporary
grant funded initiative, you must include all the
stakeholders from district and school administration,
parents, students, school support staff, and teachers.
Everyone must be at the table and stay at the table,
engaging in honest conversation about racial bias
and what is working and what isn’t working.

Why did San Francisco Unified adopt the
Restorative Practices resolution?
Kerri Berkowitz, MSW, PPSC, Former Restorative
Practices Coordinator: The resolution was adopted
primarily to address the increasing numbers of
suspensions and expulsions in our district and to
address the disproportionate numbers of African
American and Latino students who were being
suspended.

How much did it cost to begin implementing
Restorative Practices in your district and how
does the district pay for it?
In March 2004, San Francisco voters approved the
ballot initiative, Proposition H that established the
Public Enrichment Education Fund (PEEF). The
PEEF budget provided money for social workers,
student wellness, sports, and violence prevention.
Initially, each school received some portion of the
violence prevention monies to fund their choice of
violence prevention programs or activities. When
the resolution was passed in 2009, those funds
were refocused towards implementing Restorative
Practices. Currently, we budget approximately
$600,000 for restorative practices. This paid the
salaries of my team – three restorative practices

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How we can fix school discipline

coaches and me and all of our training materials and
expenses. We also use these funds to pay stipends
for RP Site Leaders from participating schools,
substitute coverage for school site staff attending
our centralized trainings, and extended hour pay for
school teams meeting about RP after school hours.
Our initial training and consultation with the
International Institute of Restorative Practices
(IIRP) cost about $2,00037 per day, plus travel costs
of the trainers. During one day of training, IIRP
consultants trained about 40-45 people. In fifteen
days of training over the course of our first half
year, IIRP trainers trained about 351 administrators,
counselors and other support staff. They also
provided trainings for all of the staff (350-360 people)
at our three demonstration schools through their
Safer Saner Schools program for $75,000 per school.
That price includes follow-up trainings and coaching
for two years.
Additionally, through the Middle School Counseling
Grant, a state funded grant for which we applied38, we
partnered with Educators for Social Responsibility,
an organization that provides professional
development on classroom management through
a restorative practice lens. With the counseling
grant, we were able to provide training for about 120
people and an additional half-time social worker or
counselor to increase the student support services
offered and support the implementation of RP in the
participating middle schools.
IIRP provided us with a solid foundation. We now
provide our own trainings and implementation
support.

How are you continuing Restorative
Practices work in your school district?
We are continuing to offer centralized trainings
in Restorative Practices to the schools that are
interested in implementing RP whole-school. We
support RP School Site Leaders through a monthly
Professional Learning Community and introduced
a Whole-School Implementation guide to support
schools in their implementation efforts. We offer
introduction presentations to schools in their early
37 Prices will vary per school district or school site. To get a quote for
your school district or site, contact John Bailie, Director of Continuing Education at IIRP. His contact information can be found in the contact pages.
38 This program is now an unrestricted categorical program open to
entities that applied and received funds during the 2007-2008 and 20082009 school years.