District 15 presented a restorative‑practices initiative at the board meeting, describing an in‑district pilot that uses community circles and “talking pieces” to build relationships, prevent conflict and repair harm. Presenters said the approach focuses first on prevention and community building and second on restorative responses when harm occurs; two pilot sites — CLA and Paddock — described early classroom and program usage and reported qualitative benefits.

Tom Edgar, assistant superintendent leading the presentation, summarized the model: restorative practices “is kind of in two buckets — the first…community building and a lot of prevention work,” and the second addresses repair after harm. The district showed an International Institute for Restorative Practices overview video and then invited the board to participate in a short community circle to experience the approach.

Pilot schools described concrete uses: CLA said it established school values (compassion, connection, perseverance), uses circles for staff meetings and classroom community time, and has portable talking pieces for transitions and lunches. CLA staff said circles are reducing escalation of small incidents and improving staff‑to‑student connection. At Paddock, staff described a values exercise that produced school values (community, kindness, growth) and said circles are being used to teach internal motivation for behavior alongside PBIS expectations.

Teachers at the pilots offered classroom examples: a teacher said a student who had passed each time in circles finally shared for the first time; a program assistant used a napkin as an impromptu talking piece at lunch to reduce interruptions and arguments. Therapeutic‑program staff said they will track quantitative measures — crisis minutes, crisis events, frequency of circles, discipline referrals and attendance — to assess impact. The presenters asked teachers to begin with a modest implementation (one circle at arrival and one at dismissal) and to log practice frequency; they said their aim is to reduce crisis minutes and improve attendance and engagement.

Professional development and scale: district leaders said they have completed train‑the‑trainer work with an external trainer (named in the presentation) and will run in‑district trainings for administrators and teachers. The middle‑school rollout is a priority for the current year, with select teacher cohorts and administrator planning days scheduled; additional sessions are planned in November and March, with internal capacity building for coaching and follow‑up. Presenters emphasized ongoing coaching and administrative support to avoid the “one‑year fad” effect and to embed practices into school improvement plans.

Board members questioned cost, staffing and sustainability. The district’s response: the approach requires upfront training and coaching but is intentionally simple at classroom scale and designed to be sustained by internal trainers and building administrators. The presenters also tied restorative practices to existing district work — PBIS and culturally and linguistically responsive practices — and said both sets of work will run in parallel.

No formal board action was required for the presentation; the board thanked staff and pilot schools and accepted an invitation to pose follow‑up questions and observe implementation data as coaches collect metrics during the year.