Why Virginia must act now to build safe and restorative schools

This column was co-authored with Chlo’e Edwards of New Virginia Majority and originally appeared in Richmond Times-Dispatch

When Olivia Jones’ brain shut down in class, no one asked what she needed. Instead of support, Olivia was sent out of the classroom to the guidance counselor’s office. She shared, “They put me in a quiet corner like they did not know what else to do with me.” She was only 16, and Virginia’s school system had no response for her except removal.

This is how the school-to-prison pipeline begins. Not with violence, but with misunderstandings and adults that lack the tools, training and resources to respond to young people appropriately. Across Virginia, Black students and students with disabilities are punished more harshly for everyday behaviors. Virginia ranks among the top three states for school suspensions. In particular, Black students with disabilities are overrepresented at every stage: exclusionary discipline, law enforcement referral and juvenile justice involvement. Zero-tolerance policies turn subjective behaviors like defiance, classroom disruption, minor physical altercations or disrespect into grounds for removal, accounting for roughly 65% of short-term suspensions.

Behind every statistic is a young person. At 13 years old, AcaCia Smith experienced repeated bullying in school, including threats. When she spoke up, adults responded by separating the students rather than engaging in conflict resolution. “Even during the meeting, it felt like the adults were not listening,” she shared.

For Mikayla Pearson, one mistake at the age of 14 changed everything. While trying to shift the burden of a financial problem from her mother, 14-year-old Mikayla Pearson sold THC gummies. Instead of teaching Mikayla how to responsibly earn money, she was treated as a criminal. At her disciplinary hearing, she shared, “Adults talked about me like I was dangerous.” She was barred from every school in Virginia.

As the General Assembly session convenes, lawmakers have a clear choice: either continue with a punishment-first approach that we know causes harm or act now to build schools equipped to respond with understanding, accountability and care.

These interventions are urgently needed in specific communities. According to Breaking the Bars: Creating Safe and Restorative Schools in Virginia, the localities such as Richmond, Norfolk, Fredericksburg and Amelia have the highest discipline disparities for Black students and students with disabilities.

In December, Transformative Changes’ Safe and Restorative Schools Learning Tour brought youth, educators, advocates and legislators together to confront exclusionary discipline and hear directly from young people like Olivia, AcaCia, and Mikayla. Through a restorative healing circle, participants saw how harm can be addressed without exclusion and how accountability can coexist with compassion.

More than a dozen school divisions across Virginia have implemented restorative approaches with promising results. These practices keep students in the classroom, reduce referrals to law enforcement, and strengthen relationships by preventing harm before it happens and repairing harm when it does.

House Bill 298 (Delegate McQuinn) revives H.B. 398/S.B. 586, a restorative discipline policy previously vetoed by Gov. Youngkin, requiring schools to use evidence-based restorative practices before suspending or expelling students, except in serious or violent cases. Paired with a $1 million investment in the Restorative Schools Pilot Program, it directs resources to school divisions with the highest discipline disparities and expands school-based mental health supports — beginning a shift from punishment to restoration.

The question is not whether restorative justice works. The data and youth have already answered that. The real question is whether legislators will choose to enact change.