Alternatives to Suspensions: Restorative Justice

Schools across the United States are fundamentally shifting how they handle student discipline. For decades, zero-tolerance policies resulted in automatic suspensions for infractions ranging from disruption to fighting. However, administrators are finding that removing students from the classroom rarely fixes the behavior. Instead, districts like Oakland Unified and Chicago Public Schools are turning to restorative justice. This approach uses mediation circles to hold students accountable, repair harm, and significantly lower recidivism rates.

The Failure of Zero-Tolerance

To understand why schools are adopting restorative justice, you have to look at the data regarding exclusionary discipline. Zero-tolerance policies gained traction in the 1990s, largely following the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994. While intended to keep weapons out of schools, these policies expanded to punish minor behavioral issues like “willful defiance” or dress code violations.

The results were statistically clear:

  • Recidivism: Students who are suspended are more likely to be suspended again.
  • Academic Impact: A single suspension significantly increases the likelihood of a student dropping out of high school.
  • Disproportionality: Data from the U.S. Department of Education consistently shows that students of color and students with disabilities are suspended at rates disproportionately higher than their peers for the same behaviors.

Suspension acts as a temporary break, but it does not teach the student how to resolve the conflict or manage the emotion that caused the incident. When the student returns, the underlying tension remains.

How Restorative Justice Works

Restorative justice is not about letting students “off the hook.” It is actually more demanding than a suspension because it requires the student to face the people they harmed. The core tool used in this method is the mediation circle.

The Structure of a Mediation Circle

A mediation circle changes the physical and social dynamic of a classroom or administrative office.

  • The Setup: Participants sit in a circle without desks or tables between them. This removes barriers and enforces equality among all participants, including teachers and administrators.
  • The Keeper: A trained facilitator, often a teacher or a restorative justice coordinator, guides the process. They do not act as a judge but as a moderator.
  • The Talking Piece: To prevent shouting matches, an object is passed around the circle. Only the person holding the object may speak. This slows down the conversation and forces active listening.

The Three Tiers of Intervention

Schools usually implement this framework in three specific stages:

  1. Tier 1 (Prevention): These are daily or weekly community-building circles. The goal is to build relationships before problems occur. A teacher might ask, “What is one goal you have for this week?” This creates a bank of trust.
  2. Tier 2 (Intervention): This occurs after a specific conflict. If two students get into a shouting match, they enter a harm circle. They discuss what happened, who was hurt, and what needs to happen to make it right.
  3. Tier 3 (Reintegration): This supports students returning from a necessary removal (like a suspension for a serious safety threat). The circle welcomes them back and establishes a plan for their success so they do not re-offend.

Concrete Success Stories

The theory sounds appealing, but the data validates the practice. Several major school districts have served as case studies for this transition.

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)

OUSD is widely considered a national leader in this space. They began a district-wide rollout of restorative justice in 2005. Over a six-year period tracking the program’s maturity, the district reported:

  • A 40% decline in overall suspensions.
  • A sharp decrease in the expulsion of African American students.
  • A notable increase in graduation rates among schools with fully implemented restorative models.

By keeping students in class rather than sending them home, the district also retained Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding, which is tied to student presence.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS)

Chicago shifted away from zero-tolerance significantly in 2012. By replacing automatic suspensions with restorative conversations and peace circles, CPS saw a 67% drop in suspension lengths over a span of three years. Furthermore, schools utilizing high levels of restorative practices saw a decrease in misconduct reports, proving that the method acts as a preventative measure, not just a reactive one.

Why Mediation lowers Recidivism

Suspensions rely on fear and exclusion. Restorative justice relies on accountability and belonging.

When a student is suspended, they often view the punishment as something done to them by an authority figure. They may feel victimized or angry at the system. In a mediation circle, the student hears directly from the person they impacted.

If a student disrupts a class, a suspension teaches them that the principal is angry. In a mediation circle, the student listens to their teacher explain how the disruption made it impossible to teach the lesson, and they hear peers explain how it distracted them from learning. This builds empathy. The “punishment” is often an agreement created by the circle, such as the student apologizing and staying after class to help organize the room. Because the student helped create the solution, they are far more likely to adhere to it.

Challenges in Implementation

While the benefits are clear, the transition is not easy.

  • Training Time: Teachers cannot simply be told to “do a circle.” Effective implementation requires days of professional development.
  • Staff Buy-in: Some educators feel that restorative justice is “soft.” It takes time to prove that sitting in a circle is harder work for a student than sitting at home playing video games.
  • Consistency: The model fails if only one teacher uses it. It requires a whole-school culture shift, which usually takes 3 to 5 years to fully embed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does restorative justice mean there are no consequences? No. Restorative justice often involves stricter accountability than suspension. The student must face those they harmed and perform actions to repair that harm. However, for immediate safety threats (like weapons or violence), traditional exclusionary discipline is often still used in conjunction with restorative re-entry.

Is this method more expensive than traditional discipline? Initially, yes. Investing in Restorative Justice Coordinators and staff training costs money. However, districts often save money long-term by retaining state funding tied to attendance and reducing the administrative costs associated with expulsion hearings and legal reviews.

Can parents participate in mediation circles? Yes. In many Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions, parents or guardians are invited to join the circle. This ensures the family is part of the solution and helps bridge the gap between home and school expectations.

How long does a mediation circle take? A proactive community-building circle (Tier 1) might take 15 minutes at the start of the day. A conflict resolution circle (Tier 2) can take anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, depending on the severity of the conflict and the number of people involved.