January 25th, 2024

My name is Michael DeLong and I am the President of the Montgomery County Young Democrats (MCYD), a group of young Democrats ages 14-35 who work to elect Democrats, make Montgomery County and Maryland better places to live, and get young people involved in politics and advocacy. MCYD strongly supports full staffing of restorative justice coaches in every middle and high school in Montgomery County, and we urge you to provide the funding to make that a reality.

Restorative justice is a set of practices that allow people to resolve conflicts and repair harm through better communication. It creates an open, positive, and inclusive culture that is designed to be accountable and to resolve conflicts before they escalate. And it can be still used as an alternative disciplinary measure to traditional, punitive discipline. If students understand why their actions have caused harm, they are less likely to do them again.

We thank the Board of Education for its support of restorative justice so far, and thank the superintendent for including funding to maintain the current status of restorative justice in the draft budget. Unfortunately, right now in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Black students are over twice as likely to face disciplinary action compared to other students, and they are more likely to end up in juvenile justice or even adult justice. As noted in a recent Office of Legislative Oversight report on the School to Prison Pipeline conducted by Dr. Elaine Bonner-Tompkins, racial disparities have mostly remained the same between 2014-2015 and 2019-2020, with Black students removed from school at two times the rate of their peers and more than twice as likely to be involved with the Department of Juvenile Services or arrested.

Only 3% of county schools currently have fully implemented restorative justice, while 97% have not. There are only 9 restorative justice specialists in MCPS’s central office. There is also only one stipend restorative justice coach in every MCPS school. The supply of restorative justice staff is not enough to fulfill the demand for these programs.

But in the schools that do have restorative justice, there is a lower suspension rate, especially for Black student suspensions, and a lower recidivism rate. As of October 2023, there was a 41% decrease of Black suspensions in MCPS’ focus restorative justice schools. When implemented well, restorative justice helps build a positive, antiracist school culture by identifying potential biases and working to dismantle them. However, this implementation needs to be thorough and consistent.

As young Democrats who remember our time in public schools, we believe that reform and education are far better ways to both hold people accountable and ensure that they do not repeat their actions. People deserve second chances and opportunities to make up for what they have done. When our schools and criminal justice systems are harshly punitive, the result is that students’ lives are greatly harmed and they are often sent on a downward spiral–and the recidivism rates, where they commit similar actions, are very high.

Restorative justice is a far better way, and it will help fix our schools and better the lives of a great many students. Young people will be able to get help and reform their lives if they need to, they will be taught why their actions were wrong and why they should avoid doing them in the future, and they will be helped onto the correct path. Instead of young people being treated as objects or problems, they will be treated as individuals.

In that spirit, MCYD urges the Board of Education to ask for additional funding for restorative justice, to hire full-time RJ coaches in every middle and high school.

Please contact us at mocoyoungdems@gmail.com with any questions.

Sincerely,

The Montgomery County Young Democrats