Separation of church & state 5: How I try to make it work at the municipal level - Disciplining students and staff

In a school district, moral issues typically come in two forms: one, disciplining either students or employees; and two, the nature of some of the curriculum.

First discipline. Student discipline normally would not fall under the purview of the trustees. But long ago, some school trustees and other community members were instrumental in the founding of a non-profit society called the Abbotsford Restorative Justice and Advocacy Association (http://www.arjaa.org/), with which we now contract to deal with many student discipline issues in our school. While there are times when students simply have to be removed from school for the greater good (e.g., criminal activity such as drug possession/dealing, carrying weapons, assaults, and so on), there are also many instances where a restorative approach is the far better alternative in the long run. 

To me, ARJAA exemplifies the christian approach to conflict resolution. In a nutshell, the approach is as follows:

Based on the principles of restorative justice, Abbotsford Restorative Justice holds offenders accountable to their victims and the community and assists them to make appropriate amends and repair the harm done. 

As an alternative to the criminal justice system, restorative justice provides support to both victims and offenders, allowing an incident to be resolved directly between the affected parties without going to court.  

ARJAA also works with Abbotsford School District 34, delivering training in conflict resolution for staff, students and their families, and helping schools implement Restorative Action—a restorative justice program specially designed to address bullying and other forms of conflict in schools (emphasis added). 

I am happy to say that this same approach has, by and large, been used in dealing with staff disciplinary issues as well. 

The second moral issue has to do with the teaching program itself. Abbotsford has followed the lead of other school districts, particularly in the United States, in encouraging the implementation of character education into its schools. One high school in particular, WJ Mouat Secondary, has taken national leadership in the development of its character council and courses (http://wjmouat.sd34.bc.ca/students/character/values). 

But as I mentioned in an earlier post, taking moral positions is easier when the virtues in question are generally supported in society, as is the case with character education. The situation becomes more difficult when an issue is more controversial. The best example in our school district is sexual education.

What till you see what great sin we're guilty of in Abbotsford!