Gwinnett County students to return to school with much different discipline policy

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County students will see big changes in the way the district addresses school violence when they return to school next week.

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Channel 2′s Gwinnett County County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson was in Gwinnett County Tuesday night, where Channel 2 Action News has reported numerous instances of violence on school campuses, some of which have injured both teachers and students.

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Teachers have been pushing back on a policy change made this year that require them to implement a tool known as “restorative practices” instead of giving harsher punishments.

Superintendent Calvin Watts recommended the new discipline practice, which aims to restore the relationships between students involved in a fight. But now, Watts says he is putting a pause to requiring restorative practice intervention to give teachers more time to train.

“This pause is intended to allow each and every one of our teams in our schools to be properly trained and to properly train staff,” Watts said in a recent school board meeting.

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The district has reported a 35% increase in fights in school compared to last year.

Steve Smith is a Gwinnett County parent who attributes a rise in fights with a change in the discipline policy.

“To require it, and take away some of that punishment just isn’t working,” Smith said. “So just to put it on pause and kick it down the road really isn’t solving an issue. I’d prefer to see the whole thing go away.”

Shonta Simmons, another Gwinnett County parents said tougher punishment doesn’t always fix a problem either.

“There’s a lot of situations and circumstances that impact kids on a day-to-day basis, as do adults, right?” Simmons said. “We got to get to the root cause of some of these issues.”

Watts said any school that wants to continue to use restorative practices can, but they are not required for the rest of the year.

Video shows brutal attack of 14-year-old girl in Gwinnett County high school bathroom The victim’s family shared surveillance video of the brutal attack exclusively with Channel 2 Action News.

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