Restorative Justice: Safe & Supportive Schools
Issue: Defending Workers & Families
Target Level of Office: School Board
Policy Name: Safe & Supportive Schools
Policy Origin: San Francisco Unified School District
Link: www.YEONetwork.org/2013policy/?i=206
YEO Sponsor:
Matt Haney (Author)
Summary Narrative of the Policy: To establish a Safe and Supportive Schools policy in the
San Francisco Unified School District that will deepen and extend positive tiered behavioral
interventions and alternatives to suspension, increase instructional time, close the achievement
gap, and reduce racial disparities in office referrals and suspensions for African American, Latino,
and Pacific Islander students.
Relevant Talking Points & Important Information:
• In adopting the Safe and Supportive Schools Act, SFSUD became the second school
district in California to ban suspension for “willful defiance.” The district’s new Safe and
Supportive Schools policy is another major victory in the nationwide movement to end
harsh school discipline and embrace proven alternatives.
• The Safe and Supportive Schools Act commits the district to fully implementing restorative
practices along with positive behavior intervention and support over the next three years.
Because “willful defiance” is a vague and highly subjective category in many school
discipline codes, students can get suspended from school for minor misbehaviors like
talking back to a teacher. The harsh enforcement of these policies alienates students
from the classroom, removes them from valuable instructional time, and increases the
likelihood that they fall behind on coursework and drop out. In fact, nationally students
of color and students with disabilities are disproportionately affected by harsh discipline
policies.
• From the 2009-10 to 2012-13 school years, San Francisco saw a 30 percent drop in
suspensions because of a pilot program that began implementing restorative programs
districtwide; however, African American students, who make up 10 percent of the school
population, still received almost 50 percent of suspensions and expulsions.
• Under Safe and Supportive Schools, suspensions will only be permitted in extreme
circumstances and when school wide positive behavior interventions and su