PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia School District plans to use a multi-million dollar federal grant to more than double the reach of a conflict-resolution program.
The program, Relationships First, is designed to build bonds among students and school staff and work out conflicts when they arise.
Josh Staub, the district's director of restorative programming who developed the program, says the program starts with weekly "community building circles" to foster trust among students and adults.
And when a dispute comes up, staffers bring students together to find common ground.
"Agreements are really important because both sides get to say what they need to move forward,” Staub said. “And then we, as the school community, are going to hold them accountable to those agreements."
Related
Staub said this approach worked in the case of a recent scenario where there was social media beef between two 11th-graders that was going to turn ugly. He said school staff turned to him for a resolution.
"One of the social workers in the school reached out to me and said, 'We have this conflict,’ can you help us with it? Because it's about ready to turn into violence."
Research for Action, a nonprofit, is getting about one-fifth of the grant to evaluate Relationships First and measure how well it affects student achievement and teacher retention.
Related
Abby Gray, the district's deputy chief of the school's climate and culture program, explained that this program is different from the zero-tolerance policies of the past. She said kicking a student out of the classroom or suspending them may not help in the long run.
"Sure, it'll fix that problem with that kid right there right then, but another problem just like that is just going to come along."
The district is getting a $4 million U.S. Education Department grant to expand Relationships First from 65 to 137 of its 217 schools.