May 3, 2016, Introduced by Reps. Pscholka, Schor, Zemke, Lyons, Lucido, LaGrand and Irwin and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1310c.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1310c. (1) A school board or its designee shall consider
using restorative justice as an alternative or in addition to
suspension or expulsion under this act. If a school board or its
designee suspends or expels a pupil under this act, the school
board or its designee shall consider using restorative justice in
addition to suspension or expulsion under this section. If a school
board or its designee decides not to suspend or expel a pupil under
this act for a disciplinary issue, the school board or its designee
shall consider using restorative justice to address the
disciplinary issue.
(2) Restorative justice practices may include victim-offender
conferences that are initiated by the victim; that are approved by
the victim's parent or legal guardian or, if the victim is at least
age 15, by the victim; that are attended voluntarily by the victim,
a victim advocate, the offender, members or the school community,
and supporters of the victim and the offender; and that provide an
opportunity for the offender to accept responsibility for the harm
caused to those affected by the misconduct and to participate in
setting consequences to repair the harm. The attendees, known as a
restorative justice team, may require the pupil to do 1 or more of
the following: apologize; participate in community service,
restoration, or counseling; or pay restitution. The selected
consequences shall be incorporated into an agreement that sets time
limits for completion of the consequences and is signed by all
participants. Restorative justice should be the first consideration
to remediate offenses such as interpersonal conflicts, bullying,
verbal and physical conflicts, theft, damage to property, class
disruption, and harassment and cyberbullying.
(3) As used in this section:
(a) "Bullying" and "cyberbullying" mean those terms as defined
in section 1310b.
(b) "Restorative justice" means practices that emphasize
repairing the harm to the victim and the school community caused by
a pupil's misconduct.
(c) "School board" means a school board, intermediate school
board, or the board of directors of a public school academy.
(d) "School district" means a school district, an intermediate
school district, or a public school academy.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.