THIRD READING 

Bill No: ACR 8

Author: Weber (D)

Introduced: 1/7/19

Vote: 21

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0, 3/21/19 (Consent) - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month

SOURCE: Mid-City CAN

DIGEST:

This resolution designates September 2019 as Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month.

ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative findings:

1. Pupils, staff, administrators, parents, and guardians have a right to a safe, collaborative, healthy, and healing school environment. Schools should strive to be sanctuaries for pupils, staff, parents, and guardians within our communities.
2. Pupils, staff, parents, and guardians have a right to resolve conflict and harm through restorative practices and restorative justice over traditional punitive disciplinary measures.
3. Prioritizing restorative practices and restorative justice over traditional methods affords all pupils with the best possible opportunity to succeed both academically and socially.
4. Restorative practices and restorative justice can only thrive if administrators and educators are given the time, tools, and staff to execute a developed program.
5. Pupils, parents, guardians, and educators have the right to give their opinions and have their voices heard and reflected in the decisions and recommendations of a school regarding its disciplinary measures.
6. Pupils, parents, guardians, and educators have the right to efficient and transparent implementation of restorative practices and restorative justice programs, including uniform data keeping and evaluation of those programs, because transparency is essential to a successful program.

This resolution designates the month of September 2019 as Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month in California, and supports the rights of pupils, staff, administrators, parents, and guardians to use restorative practices and restorative justice methods in addressing harms over traditional punitive disciplinary measures.

Comments

Restorative justice is a set of principles and practices grounded in the values of showing respect, taking responsibility, and strengthening relationships. Restorative practices, applied on a schoolwide context, are used to build a sense of school community and resolve conflict by repairing harm and restoring positive relationships. School districts that have restorative justice programs have seen reductions in the number of out-of-school suspensions.

According to the author, “Restorative approaches enable students who have been harmed to convey the impact of the harm to those responsible. This approach often leads to a positive shift in campus climate and allows students to acknowledge the impact of their behavior and make amends.”

Related/Prior Legislation

ACR 275 (Weber, 2018) would have designated the month of September 2018 as Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month in California. The resolution was held in the Assembly Rules Committee.

ACR 256 (Reyes, Resolution Chapter 166, Statutes of 2018) designated July 27, 2018, as California Bullying Prevention Day and stated that restorative justice may be an effective strategy to prevent bullying.

AB 2489 (McCarty), of the 2016 Session, would have required the California Department of Education to evaluate the implementation of restorative justice practices in school districts, in consultation with specified stakeholders, and develop standard models or develop recommendations for effective implementation. The resolution was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No

SUPPORT: (Verified 4/2/19)

Mid-City CAN (source)

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

MLK Freedom Center

OPPOSITION: (Verified 4/2/19)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Mid-City CAN states in support:

Restorative practices and restorative justice emphasize repairing the harm done to people and relationships, rather than solely focusing on punishing offenders. Restorative Justice has roots in ancient and indigenous practices employed in cultures all over the world, from Native American and First Nation Canadian to African, Asian, Celtic, Hebrew, Arab and many others.

Youth, and particularly minority youth, when exposed to the traditional juvenile justice system are more likely to be involved in the adult criminal justice system. Black men in California are 5.5 times over-represented compared to population, and Latinos are 2.9 times overrepresented. Its clear that current methods of properly addressing youth offenses has not produced the results intended, and has disproportionately impacted youth of color, placing them on the school to prison pipeline.

This resolution calls for the right of students to have harm addressed in a restorative approach, by enabling students who have been harmed, to convey the impact of the harm to those responsible, and for those responsible to acknowledge this impact and make amends. The resolution also calls for schools to be given the right to become restorative school and be given the resources to develop restorative programs. Restorative schools improve school climate, which leads to increased attendance, reduced feelings of isolation, bullying, classroom disruption, truancy, antisocial behavior, and disputes among pupils.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0, 3/21/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Calderon, Cooper, Cunningham, Fong, Frazier, Gray, Limón

Prepared by: Jonas Austin / SFA / (916) 651-1520

4/3/19 15:21:09

**** END ****

Date of Hearing: March 13, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Patrick O'Donnell, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:ACR 8 (

Author:Weber) – As Introduced Ver:January 7, 2019

SUBJECT: Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month

SUMMARY: Designates September 2019 as Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month. Specifically, this resolution:

1. States that pupils, staff, administrators, parents, and guardians have a right to a safe, collaborative, healthy, and healing school environment.
2. States that schools should strive to be sanctuaries for pupils, staff, parents, and guardians within our communities.
3. States that pupils, staff, parents, and guardians have a right to resolve conflict and harm through restorative practices and restorative justice over traditional punitive disciplinary measures.
4. States that prioritizing restorative practices and restorative justice over traditional methods affords all pupils with the best possible opportunity to succeed both academically and socially.
5. States that training and development are essential for effective restorative practices implementation, and pupils, staff, and administrators have the right to comprehensive training and development in restorative practices and restorative justice.
6. States that restorative practices and restorative justice can only thrive if administrators and educators are given the time, tools, and staff to execute a developed program.
7. States that pupils, parents, guardians, and educators have the right to give their opinions and have their voices heard and reflected in the decisions and recommendations of a school regarding its disciplinary measures.
8. States that pupils, parents, guardians, and educators have the right to efficient and transparent implementation of restorative practices and restorative justice programs, including uniform data keeping and evaluation of those programs, because transparency is essential to a successful program.
9. Designates the month of September 2019 as Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month in California, and supports the rights of pupils, staff, administrators, parents, and guardians to use restorative practices and restorative justice methods in addressing harms over traditional punitive disciplinary measures.
10. Requires the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Authorizes or requires a principal or a superintendent of schools to suspend or expel a student committing any of a number of specified acts. (Education Code (EC) Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7, 48915)
2. Specifies that suspensions shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. Specifies that other means of correction include, but are not limited to, a conference between school personnel, the pupil's parent or guardian, and pupil; referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support services personnel; study teams or other intervention-related teams; referral for a psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment; participation in a restorative justice program; a positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions; after school programs that address behavior issues; or other alternatives involving community service. (EC Section 48900.5)

FISCAL EFFECT: The Office of Legislative Counsel has keyed this resolution as non-fiscal.

COMMENTS:

Background. Restorative justice is a set of principles and practices grounded in the values of showing respect, taking responsibility, and strengthening relationships. Restorative practices, applied on a schoolwide context, are used to build a sense of school community and resolve conflict by repairing harm and restoring positive relationships. School districts that have restorative justice programs have seen reductions in the number of out-of-school suspensions.

Need for the bill. According to the author, “Restorative approaches enable students who have been harmed to convey the impact of the harm to those responsible. This approach often leads to a positive shift in campus climate and allows students to acknowledge the impact of their behavior and make amends.”

Prior Legislation.

ACR 275 (Weber) of the 2017-2018 Session would have designated the month of September 2018 as Restorative Practices in School Awareness Month in California. This bill was held in the Assembly Rules Committee.

ACR 256 (Reyes) Chapter 166, Statutes of 2018, designated July 27, 2018, as California Bullying Prevention Day and stated that restorative justice may be an effective strategy to prevent bullying.

AB 2489 (McCarty), of the 2016 Session, would have required the California Department of Education to evaluate the implementation of restorative justice practices in school districts, in consultation with specified stakeholders, and develop standard models or develop recommendations for effective implementation. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Debbie Look / ED. / (916) 319-2087