County committee reviews revised MCPS student code of conduct and expands restorative practices

Montgomery County public-school leaders told the County’s Education & Culture Committee on Sept. 25 that the district’s 2025 student code of conduct elevates restorative justice, standardizes disciplinary responses across 211 schools and mandates reintegration plans when students return from exclusionary discipline.

Peter Moran, MCPS chief of schools, told the committee the revisions clarify behavior categories, compress response levels and “place a stronger emphasis on prevention and restorative practices” to reduce variability between schools. He said the updated disciplinary matrix ties consequences to restorative actions and makes reintegration conferences mandatory districtwide.

At Forest Oak Middle School, Principal Dr. Dacia Sewell described how on-site restorative coaches and daily advisory work contributed to a local drop in suspensions: “By the end of that year, the data showed that we had suspended approximately 112 students. By the end of last year, it was down to 18,” she said, adding the school’s suspension rate fell from about 7.9% in 2023 to 1.7% in 2025.

Michelle Bateman, a district professional learning specialist, said Forest Oak’s restorative coaches have presented countywide and produced materials for staff, students and families; MCPS will continue stipends for school-based restorative coaches in 2025–26 and shift central support so professional learning specialists are aligned to school clusters.

The district reported rubric-based implementation results aligned to Maryland State Department of Education standards: roughly 3% of schools are rated “reactive,” 30.5% “early implementers,” 58% “intermediate,” and 8.5% “mature,” showing what MCPS described as steady progress in fidelity of restorative work.

The committee pressed MCPS about racial disparities and whether criteria such as “prior misconduct” could entrench disproportionality. Moran outlined a three-part strategy to monitor and respond: having specialists in schools most of the week, weekly data review to detect spikes or disproportionality, and principal-to-principal professional learning to spread effective practice. Moran said, “We have not seen any statistical increases in suspensions” in the first weeks after rollout but acknowledged persistent disparities that require continued work.

Council members also raised implementation questions: translation of the code (MCPS said translations began the prior week and copies should be released by month-end), training for security staff (MCPS said security receive preservice instruction but principals, not security staff, make disciplinary decisions) and reports that routine searches are being used in some alternative and special-education settings; MCPS said it is reviewing those search practices for compliance with board policies and state regulation and will report back.

On technology policy, MCPS announced a new device rule: elementary and middle school students must keep personal devices powered off and stored during the school day; high school students may use devices at lunch and between classes but not during instruction. MCPS described device responses as tiered and restorative in orientation, reserving out-of-school suspension for serious safety or privacy breaches.

Committee members asked MCPS to return with disaggregated suspension and low-level-infraction data by race and special-services status, and to provide periodic updates on both the climate surveys and the new monitoring systems. Moran said the district will re-administer climate surveys in November and April and is building survey items into school-improvement plans to increase participation. The committee adjourned after asking staff to follow up on translations, training content for security staff and the review of search practices.

The meeting included no formal votes on the code itself; staff committed to return with disaggregated data and to meet offline with council members to schedule follow-up briefings.