Highlighting the intersections of school-based justice, support, and restorative practices.
Thomas Levy is a current IIRP graduate degree student pursuing the thesis option. He currently serves as a school-based behavioral consultant supporting students with disabilities. His experience with this often underrepresented population of students provides him with a unique perspective on the intersections of support, discipline, and restorative practices. His passion for restorative practices and the minutiae of school-based justice has fueled the direction of his studies and thesis topic.
Q: What brought you to the IIRP?
A: During the 2014–2015 school year, I worked as dean of students in a zero-tolerance charter high school in Brooklyn, NY. Our administrative team at the time sensed that the students, staff, and families needed and deserved more than our disciplinary system offered them at the time. I was chosen as the team member who would attend a two-day IIRP event with the purpose of bringing the most relevant information back to key stakeholders. Two days was all it took to light a passion, one that has continued to burn unabridged for nearly 10 years.
Q: Please tell us about your restorative work now and what makes you passionate about it.
A: I currently serve as a behavioral consultant for a school district on Long Island, NY, where my work now primarily involves supporting administrators, teachers, and families in their work with students with disabilities. This specific population is particularly underrepresented in current restorative practices literature, and I am passionate about championing a supportive approach that intersects restorative principles with those established by behavioral science.
Q: What is your thesis focused on, and why did you choose to pursue this topic?
A: Over the last 12 years, school administrators – rather than elected officials – increasingly have final say over how school justice works at their respective campuses. Despite the prevalence of localized empowerment over school discipline, little is known about the justice process school administrators have constructed. My thesis focuses on understanding how administrative officials at a single elementary charter school make day-to-day disciplinary decisions regarding significant student infractions. By taking the reader through a detailed description of the process, from the immediate aftermath of a significant behavioral issue to – and through – a final decision being made, I hope to highlight the intricacies and complications inherent in justice and for these complications to ignite a more nuanced restorative conversation about school-based approaches.
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