Hi my name is Yaya, and I am joined by the Ominira for Healing Justice Project here in STL. 

Recently, Riverview Garden’s School District released news in the form of an infographic regarding a controversial Zero Tolerance policy for High School fights. It states: If you fight on campus, you will: 

1. Automatically be suspended for 10 days…

2.  Serve the suspension at an alternative school…

3. Be placed on probation for 1 year….

This policy as outlined in the above mentioned 3-step course of action, is a form of school push out and creates a *School to Prison Pipeline*, whereas students (in a district with a majority black and brown demographic) will be railroaded into the Prison Industrial Complex (that historically and presently, imprisons black and brown communities at a disproportionate rate) via the juvenile justice system or criminal justice system. Nowhere in its announcement of said policy is there recourse for parents to repeal a decision to suspend them for 10 days nor would a suspension and placement in alternative school be appropriate to ensure students are safe(r), supported academically, etc. 

It’s a process that rests upon the criminalization of youth and adolescent behavior ignoring the psycho-social biography and dignity of students. 

Studies show that fights in school are often times a result of bullying. LGBTQ students, Black girl students, and Neurodivergent students are at the greatest risk of victimization from bullying, however they are also incarcerated at two to three times the rate of their peers. Students with documented IEPs and 504s would be negatively impacted by this policy as well!! Which could create grounds for multiple lawsuits if students’ intervention plans were not exhausted before expulsion and arrest. Our students need dignity in accountability not incarceration.  Riverview Gardens School District’s “Zero Tolerance Policy,” would indiscriminately criminalize, and harshly punish students for responding to incidents of bullying by way of self defense or out of fear for their own safety; and with this policy in place it wouldn’t matter either way!

How is this justice, how will this keep students safe? 

“The assumption behind Zero Tolerance policies is that removing disruptive students from school will deter other students from disruption and create an improved school climate. But research shows that the opposite is in fact true—schools with high suspension and expulsion rates have worse school climates and higher rates of suspension and misbehavior.” -ACLU

Hundreds of evidence based research studies have demonstrated that Zero Tolerance Policies do not keep schools safer for students, nor do they ensure a bully free school. At its inception Zero Tolerance Policies in schools were used to address incidents of violence that involved the use of a fire arm, it was never meant to address school fights or ”insubordination,” and when grossly misapplied, it sets up an environment where youth are overwhelmingly interfacing with law enforcement and the prison system.

In the wake of protests against police brutality of black citizens like Sonya Massey, George Floyd, Mike Brown Jr., many community leaders in the Saint Louis region have opposed this policy, by rightly stating that it would increase youth potential for further legal, physical and mental harm with police and the carceral system.  
Moreover studies have proven that:  “Students who receive a suspension in middle or high school are also significantly less likely to graduate on time and are more likely to drop out.' Higher suspension rates have also been found to be related to lower school-wide academic achievement and standardized test scores, even when controlling for factors such as race and socioeconomic status.”

1. As many of us in the STL region are aware (of this district’s history with performance reviews from the state), Riverview cannot afford this great of a risk to student outcomes by relying on punitive and carceral measures, by relying on the criminal justice system…one that was designed from and is a legacy of slave patrols. We don’t need to rely on systems (designed to uproot community) to address fights or prevent conflicts amongst scholars that happen at school. Especially given the wealth of information regarding its ineffectiveness! We need a real investment in our scholars at Riverview School District especially during the most critical time in their brain and physical development. This investment would necessitate financial resources, community input, involvement and cooperation with social service organizations that service youth and or work with youth around violence prevention and peace making. It would take an intentional implementation of Transformative Justice initiatives that work to get at the root cause of violence in the community. We cannot imprison our way out of this or lock up our future leaders. Invest in them! Invest in their futures! Supporting this petition can help protect the futures and dreams of countless young black students and prevent a single misstep from derailing their lives.