Q&A: Does Implementing Restorative Practices Mean Students Can No Longer Be Suspended?

If a school is implementing Restorative Practices, does this mean they can't suspend students anymore?

One of the most common resistance points to Restoratives Practices is the belief that students can no longer receive consequences when they violate school rules. While some Restorative Practices practitioners do go to that extreme, I don’t share that philosophy because I don’t think it’s practical or sustainable in a traditional school setting. There are circumstances, particularly when safety is a concern, where the most appropriate strategy for a student is to temporarily remove them from the classroom environment or school building for a short period of time. With that said, suspension alone has been proven to be ineffective when it comes to correcting inappropriate behavior because time doesn’t heal all wounds. Sometimes, time away is necessary for some students but it’s imperative to figure out the cause of the behavior too. If you have a better understanding of what is causing a behavior, it will give you the opportunity to change the adverse behavior long term.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
KELVIN OLIVER is an Educational Consultant specializing in implementing Restorative Practices in Schools. As a campus administrator he played an instrumental role in the development, implementation, and support of Restorative Practices. Kelvin is credited for creating a Restorative Practices campus-based support model that included weekly professional development and an implementation support team. Since 2007, he has worked in education as a special education teacher, classroom teacher, campus math specialist, district curriculum specialist, assistant principal, campus principal and consultant.

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