{"id":8810,"date":"2025-06-23T19:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T19:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/8810\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T19:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T19:41:10","slug":"sd-unified-seeks-to-strengthen-restorative-discipline-policy-for-2025-26-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/8810\/","title":{"rendered":"SD Unified seeks to strengthen Restorative Discipline Policy for 2025-26 school year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Board-of-Education.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"472\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Board-of-Education-1024x619.jpg\" alt=\"San Diego Unified SDUSD\" class=\"wp-image-233038\"  \/><\/a>Eugene Brucker Education Center is the headquarters of the San Diego Unified School District. (Photo courtesy of KPBSNews)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegounified.org\/about\/board_of_education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education<\/a> is expected to vote Tuesday on updates to its Restorative Discipline Policy, aimed at strengthening a framework that focuses on accountability, safety, and student support without relying solely on punitive discipline.<\/p>\n<p>The revised policy continues to prioritize restorative practices \u2014 an approach that encourages responsibility and community-building while addressing harm and helping students stay connected to school. Officials say the updates are based on feedback from students, families, and educators since the policy was first adopted in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the district has seen a steady drop in expulsions:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2021\u201322: 111<\/li>\n<li>2022\u201323: 49<\/li>\n<li>2023\u201324: 35<\/li>\n<li>2024\u201325: 29<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to state data, San Diego Unified\u2019s suspension rate was 2.5% last year, lower than other large urban districts in California, including Long Beach Unified and Fresno Unified.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reduction of our suspension and expulsion rates are not indicative of a sacrifice to student safety and accountability,\u201d said Farshad Talebi, the district\u2019s Executive Director of Investigations, Compliance, and Accountability. \u201cThe changes we\u2019ve made give administrators a wide spectrum of tools to address problematic behavior before punitive measures are necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s Changing?<\/p>\n<p>Key updates to the policy include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clearer guidance for behavior and consequences<br \/>The revised policy now defines five levels of behavior instead of four. Level 3 identifies suspendable offenses, and Level 4 covers situations where expulsion may be considered.<\/li>\n<li>More serious consequences for serious misconduct<br \/>Issues such as sexual misconduct (Title IX), harassment, bullying, and violent threats will carry more defined consequences.<\/li>\n<li>Easier-to-use resources for staff<br \/>The district created a two-page \u201cat-a-glance\u201d behavior matrix to help educators respond quickly and consistently. The document includes color-coded levels, icons, and links to relevant sections of California\u2019s Education Code.<\/li>\n<li>Expanded tools for prevention<br \/>Schools will also receive more support for proactive, relationship-focused strategies that aim to prevent issues before they escalate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ebonee Weathers, Executive Director of Equity and Belonging, said the policy reflects the district\u2019s ongoing effort to balance accountability with student-centered support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRestorative practices, while focusing on fostering community and repairing harm, do not mean a lack of consequences,\u201d she said. \u201cInstead, they aim to make consequences more intentional and focused on learning pro-social skills and accountability for behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new version of the policy is set to take effect in the 2025\u201326 school year. Staff training will begin this summer.<\/p>\n<p>For more on the district\u2019s restorative justice work, visit:<br \/>\ud83d\udd17 <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/sandi.net\/rjpdepartment\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/sites.google.com\/sandi.net\/rjpdepartment\/home<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eugene Brucker Education Center is the headquarters of the San Diego Unified School District. (Photo courtesy of KPBSNews)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[9964,5229,1582,276,9965,3549,9966,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-8810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-2025-2026-school-year","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-restorative-discipline","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-san-diego-unified-school-district-board-of-education","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114734385302279935","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}