restorative intervention

Over the last few years, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office has documented roughly 300 incidents of juveniles communicating threats of violence at school. While some cases are more serious than others, each can sow fear among students and families, and greatly disrupt the work of educators.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools rolled out the new code of conduct in 2022, after spending a year developing it with community stakeholders. The goal was to unify the district in handling student behavioral issues, and more specifically, reduce out-of-school suspensions and racial disparities in discipline.

The program is designed to serve middle and high school students who have received out-of-school suspensions of up to ten days. Rather than spending that time at home, potentially unsupervised, students will have the option to continue learning in a separate classroom setting.

As students head back to class this week in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, they will be learning about a new student Code of Character, Conduct and…