Liz Posner “I was a well-meaning White teacher. But my harsh discipline harmed Black kids.” & Laurie Bulka’s Creating a Restorative Community - at Guilford Elementary School

Big Idea 1: Shifting from Punitive to Restorative Justice

Bulka shows the difference between traditional discipline and restorative practices (Bulka, n.d.). Traditional discipline focuses on rules broken, assigning blame, and giving out punishments. This often leads to students being left out of the school community. On the other hand, restorative justice focuses on understanding the harm that was done, figuring out what people need, making things right, and helping the person who caused harm rejoin the community. The slide titled "Traditional Discipline vs. Restorative Practices" makes this big change in thinking very clear (Bulka, n.d.).

Liz Posner's "Perspective Essay" shows how traditional, punishment-focused methods, especially "zero tolerance" rules, really hurt students of color (Posner, 2021). Her personal story about how she contributed to the "school-to-prison pipeline" highlights why we urgently need to use restorative methods. She explains how changing her own strict disciplinary actions, like using an "Accountability Book," to embracing restorative practices led to better relationships with her students and improved results (Posner, 2021).

Implementation in My District: I am new to HCPSS, however my old district (BCPS) was really into restorative justice practices, but how fully they are used varies a lot from school to school, and teachers were definitely NOT crazy about it. There's a district wide effort for "positive behavior interventions and supports" (PBIS), which often includes ideas similar to restorative principles, such as teaching social-emotional skills and trying to stop misbehavior before it starts. However, consistently using restorative conversations and circles, especially for more serious issues, do not have the same solution.

Some schools have specific staff or teams dedicated to restorative justice. These teams help with conflict resolution and reintegration circles, showing a stronger commitment to these practices. In these schools, the main goal is truly to fix harm and rebuild relationships. In other schools, using restorative practices might just mean using restorative language in minor incident reports, as suggested by Bulka (n.d.) (for example, asking "Who was affected by your actions?" instead of "What school rule did you break?") (Bulka, n.d.) The real challenge is moving beyond just scratching the surface to truly changing the school culture so that building relationships and showing empathy are more important than simply punishing students.

Big Idea 2: Building Relationships and Community Through Circles

Bulka's presentation shows the importance of "Building Relationships - honoring the process" through different types of circles (Bulka, N.D.). The "Restorative Practices Circle of Supports" diagram shows a step-by-step approach. This starts with "Community Building Circles" for preventing problems and teaching skills, moves to "Responsive Circles" for peer mediation and solving conflicts, and finally, uses "Restorative Circles" for intense help after incidents. This complete view shows that circles are not just for dealing with conflict, but are key to creating a positive school environment. The progress at Guilford Elementary School, from starting circles in a small way to using them school-wide, demonstrates a clear path for putting these practices into action (Bulka, n.d.).

Implementation in My District: HCPSS has made good progress in using community-building circles, especially in elementary. Many teachers now have daily or weekly check-in circles to help students feel like they belong and to allow them to share their feelings and experiences. This fits with the "Prevention & Skill Building" level in Bulka's model (n.d.).

However, using "Responsive Circles" for peer mediation and "Restorative Circles" after incidents is less common. This often depends on who is leading the school and how much training the staff has received. While some teachers are good at calming down conflicts using restorative words and methods, official peer mediation programs or guided restorative conversations that involve everyone affected are still pretty rare. HCPSS does offer some training on restorative justice (I remember going to some throughout the year), but consistent professional development and ongoing support are needed to make sure staff feel ready to lead these more in-depth circles effectively.

Big Idea 3: Addressing Disproportionality and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Both resources connect traditional discipline to the problem of unequal discipline and the "school-to-prison pipeline." Bulka's presentation includes data on "Suspension Rates by Race/Ethnicity," which clearly shows racial differences in discipline (Bulka, n.d.). It argues that suspensions can sometimes be seen as a reward, push students away, and lead to more problems, suggesting in-school suspension that focuses on fixing harm rather than just blaming and punishing. Posner's essay directly states that "Black children suffer disproportionately from 'zero tolerance' disciplinary policies," and how even well-meaning White educators can accidentally contribute to this systemic issue (Posner, 2021). She stresses the need to get rid of "zero tolerance" policies and create policies that are openly anti-racist (Posner, 2021).

Implementation in My District: There's an ongoing focus on training staff to recognize unconscious biases and reviewing discipline policies to reduce suspensions, especially for minor rule-breaking. The emphasis on social-emotional learning and positive behavior supports is partly aimed at reducing disciplinary referrals and improving fairness.

While the district knows about the "school-to-prison pipeline," actively stopping it through restorative practices is still a work in progress. There's a growing understanding that simply moving students from out-of-school suspension to in-school suspension isn't enough, the quality of what happens during that intervention is what truly matters. The goal is to make sure all interventions focus on getting to the root of why behaviors happen, teaching new skills, and mending relationships, rather than just controlling students or giving out punishments without trying to restore things. The district is moving towards this, but consistent application and a strong commitment to making big changes are still developing.