UTSA hosts Oct. 11 symposium on zero-tolerance policies in Texas schools

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(Oct. 9, 2014) -- The UTSA College of Public Policy, will host a symposium on the consequences and harm of zero-tolerance policies in Texas public schools. The event is from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 11 in the Durango Building Southwest Room (1.124) at the UTSA Downtown Campus.

The symposium will feature presentations by several UTSA and community experts in restorative justice and discipline, juvenile justice and education. Ivy Taylor, San Antonio mayor and UTSA adjunct professor in the UTSA Department of Public Administration, will deliver the keynote address. It is sponsored by the Office of Community and Restorative Justice, housed in the UTSA College of Public Policy Policy Studies Center.

"Research shows that the consequences of zero-tolerance policies are almost universally negative," said Robert Rico, assistant director of the Office of Community and Restorative Justice. "The punitive disciplinary policies and practices currently in place across the U.S. have created a school-to-prison pipeline. It is time to reevaluate the ways in which public school systems employ disciplinary measures and embrace new ideas and alternatives."

Representatives from Edward H. White Middle School in San Antonio's North East Independent School District will provide testimonials about how they successfully implement restorative discipline techniques into their school discipline program. This alternative approach has helped them experience an 84 percent drop in off-campus suspensions and a 44 percent drop in total suspensions in only one year.

In 2012, the Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue at the University of Texas at Austin and UTSA assisted in the implementation of a restorative discipline approach to addressing disciplinary concerns at Edward H. White Middle School. (Read the full story here.)

Restorative justice panel

  • Michael Gilbert, director of the UTSA Office of Community and Restorative Justice
  • Robert Rico, assistant director of the UTSA Office of Community and Restorative Justice

Juvenile justice panel

  • Lisa K. Jarrett, judge, 436th Judicial District, Bexar County District Court
  • Stephanie Paulissen Lewis, assistant criminal district attorney, juvenile division
  • Jason Todd, assistant criminal district attorney, juvenile division

Circles in the Classroom panel -- Edward H. White Middle School

  • Philip Carney, principal
  • Kevin Curtis, assistant principal
  • Rufus Lott, assistant principal
  • Elizabeth Washington, teacher

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Learn more at the UTSA College of Public Policy and UTSA Policy Studies Center websites.

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