Baltimore City Schools CEO Sonja Santelises and her staff have been working with OSI-Baltimore on a plan to introduce restorative practices (RP) to all Baltimore City Public Schools over the next 5 years. As district officials prepare to begin the roll out of restorative practices during the 2017-18 academic year, they have created a web portal that includes information on what restorative practices are (including a video created by the young people of Wide Angle Youth Media) and how they’ll be rolled out in Baltimore.
In the coming weeks, OSI and the district officials will release the official plan and Dr. Santelises will hold a press conference soon thereafter to officially begin the roll out.
This is an exciting moment for Baltimore, as the district fully embraces practices designed to lift up student voices and replace ineffective discipline procedures with a more lasting, restorative model that truly addresses the needs of all students.
As the City School’s website says, “The goal is for every school to use these strategies regularly, so that every student has what he or she needs to succeed.”
