Trustees press for clearer peer-mediation data after report shows ‘zero’ mediations at one middle school

Director Nichols updated the board on student-support services, including family-engagement events, early registration, student advisory councils and peer mediation.

Nichols said the district has distributed basic-needs supports and tracked 'units' of service across buildings, but acknowledged the peer-mediation program is inconsistently implemented: "zero at Fairplane Middle and six at the high school," she said when describing current mediation counts.

Trustees pressed for more detailed peer-mediation metrics: how often mediation is offered, how many students decline, how many trained peer mediators each building has, and what training the staff and mediators have received. Several trustees said numbers alone will not be sufficient without documentation of offers and rejections.

Nichols said Oakland Mediation Center conducted train-the-trainer sessions for staff at the high school and Fairplane Middle and that a building-level implementation team was formed, but she agreed to return with clearer counts that track rejections and the number of trained mediators by building.

Why it matters: Board members framed peer mediation as both preventive and restorative; they asked staff to track not only incident-based mediations but also preventive activities, training and implementation fidelity.

Quotations: On implementation at the middle school and high school, Nichols said, "zero at Fairplane Middle and six at the high school." Trustees asked staff to supply rejection counts and training documentation so the board can assess program efficacy.

Ending: Director Nichols will provide a more detailed peer-mediation report, including offers made, acceptance and rejection counts, training records for mediators and a plan for increasing implementation at Fairplane Middle.