A restorative approach

Clarke Central High School adviser Erica Cascio speaks in a community-building circle in her classroom on Sept. 4. Community-building circles are new to the CCHS advisement curriculum in the 2019-20 school year. “I think as we move into more circles, I’m definitely going to push teachers and students to go a little bit deeper,” CCHS counselor and restorative culture leadership team member Ashlee Perry (not pictured) said. “I would love to do some circles that focus on empathy, I would love to do some circles that focus on celebrating diversity, I would love to do some circles that focus on being able to identify with classmates or peers who might be going through similar issues and things outside of school.” Photo by Luna Reichert

In order to resolve conflict more efficiently and build a positive school culture, Clarke Central High School is implementing restorative justice circles for the 2019-20 school year.

With restorative justice circles being implemented into the advisement and discipline curriculums at Clarke Central High School for the first time in the 2019-20 school year, the faculty and administrators seek to build a stronger school community by targeting the source of student conflict.

In the last few years, the Clarke County School District has followed a national trend of incorporating restorative principles into schools.

“Restorative practices are very different (than traditional discipline methods), because we’re not going straight to the punitive. It’s not doing away with that, but it is providing administrators and teachers with other options,” Restorative Schools Coordinator Collisa Lankford said.

For CCHS, the initiative includes responsive circles, which offer a space for the victims and offenders of a conflict to meet, and weekly community-building in advisement that give CCHS students a place to articulate personal problems.

“My hope is that the community-building circles will create a safe space to have hard conversations, if and when they need to happen,” CCHS counselor and restorative culture leadership team member Ashlee Perry said.

“I think that this sense of community as a whole will create spaces where there’s less conflict, there’s less bullying, you have more students feeling comfortable, safe, warm and welcome at school,” Perry said.

Within the circles, students, with the guidance of advisers, also discuss school-wide issues such as bullying and respect.

“It’s a good way for (students) to show how they feel, and they definitely voice their opinions and talk more than they usually would. I think it’s better than what we (did) in the previous years (in advisement),” CCHS senior Aleena Joseph said.

While the implementation of the practices is intended to help students, not all students are on board. According to CCHS sophomore Clayton Dodson, the practice takes up crucial academic time in advisement.

“For the past two weeks, (the circle has) taken up the entire class period. I’ve had no time to work on work,” Dodson said. “I think if (they combined) what we’re talking about in the actual circle with the lesson, it’d make it go by quicker, and then we’ll still have our academic time.”

According to Perry, community-building circles give students the groundwork needed for responsive circles, individualized circles held to examine a conflict with a member of CCHS administration and the involved parties.

“(Community building circles are) really about making sure students are comfortable in that format and understanding the point of the circles, and then not having to address that piece when they come into responsive circles,” Perry said.

Working through the Georgia Conflict Center, Lankford assists in the implementation of responsive circles at CCHS and hopes to counteract the traditional power dynamic of a meeting with an administrator.

“They are very different from what would happen in a regular administrative meeting where you have usually a person sitting in a seat of power, maybe behind a desk or something like that. With a circle you’re forced to look at one another, and so that makes it a little bit different,” Lankford said.

In a weekly update email to the school, CCHS Principal Swade Huff outlined the intended effects of responsive circles specific to CCHS.

“(Responsive circles encourage) us to get to the root cause of conflict which can ultimately prevent recurrence and offers a more equitable process of addressing minor infractions,” Huff wrote in the email. “If a student gets in a verbal conflict, we will attempt to facilitate a (responsive) circle to help students who are involved understand how their behavior affects others and provide them with other options to resolve conflict in the future.”

For CCHS senior Jashauntee Foster, as responsive circles encourage students to speak about their conflicts, the circles bring up an issue of student privacy.

“If I was in a situation where we had a (responsive circle) with teachers, administrators, all that stuff, I wouldn’t say anything (to the group). I feel like they would tell the parents (what I said). And what if the parents don’t know about it and you get in trouble,” Foster said.

According to Lankford, many CCHS teachers are supportive of the new dynamic that responsive circles are bringing to the school.

“Our goal for this year is to have 75% of (CCHS) teachers engaging in (responsive and community- building) circles and environments, and it’s looking pretty good right now,” Lankford said. “When the circles are not going well in class, teachers have actually been actively asking for technical assistance, because they’ve bought into this process, and they want it to work.”

The circles are also affecting parts of CCHS beyond advisement and discipline meetings. Fine arts department teacher and adviser Amanda Price is integrating aspects of community-building circles into her art classes.

“(I seat) students in a circle and then (have their artwork) in the middle. Then, (the students are) able to comment on what’s going well, what they’re struggling with (regarding) the project, and then be able to have that as a troubleshooting session so they can share ideas and techniques,” Price said.

As restorative justice practices continue to impact CCHS, Lankford believes they will give students the opportunity to participate in more effective conflict resolution methods.

“I’ve actually had circles where students are like, ‘Wow, I never thought about how my behavior was impacting other people.’ That’s a new way of thinking, even (for) the students,” Lankford said.

“(With the circles), we’re looking to change the actual feel of the building by changing the culture of the building.”

According to a survey conducted through Google Forms of 300 Clarke Central High School students, 49.3% of the student body enjoys participating in community building circles, and 80% would rather have a responsive circle with members of administration than attend in-school suspension (ISS). The survey was conducted my members of the ODYSSEY Media Group Staff. Graphic by Audrey Kennedy