School Justice Partnerships
School to Prison Pipeline
After the Columbine School Shooting tragedy, School Resource Officers were put in schools to keep students safe. Unfortunately, this practice coupled with zero-tolerance practices led to a dramatic increase in students, disproportionately children of color, being sent to the justice system for misdemeanors.
The School Justice Partnerships were developed to reduce the School to Prison Pipeline. The New Hanover County School Model was based on work done by Judge Steven Teske out of Clayton Georgia. The success led to it's inclusion in the Raise the Age Movement.
Raise the Age
On December 1, 2019 the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act was fully implemented in North Carolina. This law raised the age of juveniles from 16 to 18 years old, and also encouraged all school districts to implement School Justice Partnerships based on the success of other states and New Hanover County Schools.
Raise the Age: https://www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/juvenile-justice/key-initiatives/raise-age-nc
Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act: https://www.ncdps.gov/documents/juvenile-justice-reinvestment-act
School Justice Partnerships
From the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act: Statewide Implementation – New G.S. 7A-343(9g) authorizes the Director of the AOC to prescribe policies and procedures for chief district court judges to establish school-justice partnerships in collaboration with local law enforcement agencies, local boards of education, and local school administrative units for the purpose of reducing in-school arrests, out-of-school suspensions, and expulsions.
Toolkit to create School Justice Partnerships: https://www.nccourts.gov/documents/publications/school-justice-partnership-toolkit
School Justice Partnerships NC: https://www.nccourts.gov/programs/school-justice-partnership
School Justice Partnerships Nationally: https://www.schooljusticepartnership.org/
