Fix School Discipline Toolkit for Educators | Page 55

of the class. In a classroom with 35 fourth graders, all
are absolutely silent during transitions in the game
and all raise their hands before speaking.
Two fourth graders join BA outside the classroom to
discuss why they are using Second Step:
4th Grade Boy: Second Step helps us with trying
to figure out what other people’s feelings are and if
they’re sad so we can help them out.
BA: Why is that important?
4th Grade Girl: It’s important to help people fix their
problems because when people are happy, they make
good choices and go all the way up to a successful
career.

What does it cost to implement PBIS and SEL at
your school?
BA: PBIS is not expensive; it’s about $300 (300
dollars) yearly. Anyone who says money is a factor
or a barrier to implementing an alternative discipline
practice doesn’t want to change. This reluctance to
implement these alternatives is just an extension of
white privilege and not wanting to change to serve
your community.
The Second Step curriculum, which provides
SEL instruction, costs about $3000 and is paid for
through CASEL’s CDI grant to the district. Similar
grants have been granted to eight other large school
districts.

What benefits have you experienced?
BA: There is no longer a 75% staff attrition rate at this
school. Since the 2011-12 school year, we have seen a
significant decrease in suspensions and in physical
fighting. We have further reduced suspensions by
42%. We are still implementing PBIS and SEL and
have also layered on restorative justice. We are
seeing that stu FV