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Greece administrators highlight professional learning and restorative practices as district reports drops in referrals at Olympia
Summary
GASA representative Brandon Jones briefed the board on districtwide professional learning, restorative-practice integration with traditional discipline and building-level referral reductions — Olympia reported a roughly 37% drop in referrals compared with last year.
Brandon Jones, representing the Greece Administrators' Association, updated the board on districtwide instructional professional learning and how schools are combining restorative practices with traditional disciplinary consequences.
Jones said district leaders are prioritizing professional learning around new science/course changes, common formative assessments, co-teaching models and ‘‘specially designed instruction’’ for students with disabilities. He described staff-retreat work, in-school coaching cycles and building-level teams that use data to identify instructional gaps and intervention points.
On school discipline, Jones said restorative practices are being used alongside traditional consequences such as detention and in-school suspension; students who are assigned in-school consequences are given targeted projects and time to reflect so the disciplinary moment is also instructive. Jones said buildings are pairing interventions with accountability and coaching cycles to support behavioral and academic improvement.
Jones highlighted data from Olympia Elementary (his building) showing decreases from the previous year: referrals fell from ‘‘over 2,000’’ to 1,286 at the same point in the school year (a figure he said represents about a 37% reduction), referrals for physical altercations decreased about 40%, suspensions declined 27%, and students with 20 or more referrals fell about 40%.
He said similar practices are being used across Arcadia, Odyssey and other schools, pointing to professional learning communities, partnerships with local mental-health providers, targeted instruction for middle grades math and leadership programs at the high-school level aimed at substance-use prevention. Jones thanked board members and the superintendent's cabinet for supporting the work and asked the board to continue helping remove barriers to instruction and social-emotional supports.
Jones' presentation emphasized that restorative practices are not a replacement for discipline but are being combined with consequences to teach skills and reduce repeat behavioral incidents.
