SCS students using personal experiences to reform school discipline

 

By: Kirstin Garriss

Updated: May 8, 2019 - 11:16 PM

 

After being suspended, expelled and even arrested, six Shelby County students have a seat at the table to reform school discipline.

 

This group of young men spent the last few months working on recommendations to reduce school violence.

 

This is the same group of students that pushed for free MATA bus passes for high school students in the district. 

 

Now, these students can potentially use their personal experiences within- and out-of-school suspensions to help change the experiences for future generations in Shelby County.

 

 

John Chatman is just 18-years-old. 

 

 

“I’d say like kindergarten. Yeah kindergarten is when I got my first suspension,” said Chatman, senior at G. W. Carver College and Career Academy.

 

 

Chatman said he’s been suspended more than 50 times.

 

 

“I got suspended for stuff I never did – for fights, cursing, you know just a lot of things. I probably got suspended for everything except bringing a gun to school,” he said.

 

 

State data shows in- and out-of-school suspensions decreased last school year in Shelby County, but the number of expulsions increased. 

 

District records show some students were expelled from school for as long as 180 days at a time.

 

 

A district spokesperson said most of the expulsions are a result of the state-mandated zero-tolerance offenses like having a gun at school and drug use or possession.

 

 

But students like Aveion Wilson believe lesser offenses need to be handled differently.

 

 

“I’d hate for people to be looked at, looked upon as a statistic because no one’s a number. Everyone has a reason why they do certain things,” said Wilson, junior at G. W. Carver College and Career Academy.

 

 

Wilson was expelled after posting a video threat toward his school. 

 

 

“One day I posted this video of me at school making a joke toward the school and it was taken as a threat, and I was charged with terrorism and expelled on the spot,” he said.

 

 

Now, Wilson and Chatman are members of Project STAND, which is a federally funded program at G. W. Carver College and Career Academy helping students transition from the juvenile detention center back into traditional school.

 

 

FOX13’s Kirstin Garriss asked Chatman if he imagined he would be here today after more than 50 suspensions and multiple expulsions. 

 

 

“No, like just being 100 with you right now I don’t think I would be free right now or alive,” said Chatman.

 

 

Now not only alive, they’re using time they didn’t think they’d have to help SCS reduce out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.

 

 

Wilson and Chatman are two of six Carver Academy students who spent months creating recommendations for school discipline reform.

 

 

Some include eliminating suspensions and expulsions for elementary students and starting morning check-ins before class. 

 

 

“I could have brought some negative energy and it could have led to a whole conflict but once we did that little check-in and we talked, we resolved something that could have been catastrophic later on,” said Chatman.

 

 

The group wants to see more mentorship in schools. For example, if a student gets into trouble, an administrator would call the student’s mentor to talk though problems.

 

 

It’s a simple alternative Wilson said he’s already seen succeed with students who’ve been through much more than suspensions at Carver Academy.

 

 

“I’ve seen people who came fresh out of jail right and they’re in this program and haven’t been back since, haven’t done anything illegal since and it’s because of them [mentors]. They feel like they have someone they can rely on and someone who cares about them,” said Wilson. 

 

 

He said they’ve gotten positive feedback from district leaders and he’s optimistic about turning these recommendations into reality.

 

 

“Like maybe we should merge these two branches of faculty that we already have like the ISS monitors or the hall monitors or people in that nature, merge them all together and these can be your mentors,” said Wilson.

 

 

Here’s a full list of the group’s recommendations in their own words: 

 

 

See our lives now as relevant

 

 

• Connect us to job opportunities through giving access to tests like the National Career Readiness Certificate Test.

• Don’t just college-track us all. Some of us want to learn more hands-on skills that will more quickly connect us with stability for our lives.

 

Don’t give up on your students

 

 

• Don’t suspend and expel elementary school students.

• Offer a chance for people to reflect at the beginning of the in-school suspension process (not at the end), and to have one-on-one check-ins with the monitor during the in-school suspension.

 

Treat us like people

 

 

• Reset rooms

• Morning check-ins

• Check-ins with our families

 

Create intentional spaces for mentorship

 

 

• Have students identify mentors in the first months of school. If a student gets in trouble, have a policy that requires administrators to call the student’s mentor, and give the mentor and the student a chance to talk.

• Hire people from the community to be trained in restorative justice and to monitor the halls. This will create more mentors in the school who come from the same background as us, and who will see us outside of school and really understand us.

 

This group of students wants to see their recommendations become policy by 2020.