MODEL SCHOOL CODE
Revised DSC Model Code on Education and Dignity available now!
On Wednesday, October 23rd, DSC released a new updated version of our Model Code on Education and Dignity. Originally released in 2012, the Model Code presents a set of recommended policies to schools, districts and legislators to help end school pushout and protect the human rights to education, dignity, participation and freedom from discrimination. The Code is the culmination of many years of research and dialogue with students, parents, educators, advocates and researchers who came together to envision a school system that supports all children and young people in reaching their full potential.
The code has been updated for re-release with several new sections added on the following topics:
Intervention Support Team Approach for Threat Assessments
Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Teaching
Racial Disparities in School Discipline
LGBTQ+ and Gender Non-Conforming Students
Immigrant and Undocumented Students
Trauma-sensitive Schools
Additional updates were made throughout the code to better reflect DSC’s positions as a campaign in 2019. A supplemental set of policies were released in 2018 which have been fully integrated into the code in this new version, covering the topics of dress codes and fighting, and a fully revised section on law enforcement and gang profiling to align with the demand to remove all law enforcement form schools.
Previously Released Resources from the Model Code to Fight Criminalization (October 2018)
The presence of police in schools has escalated dramatically in the last several decades, and the figures on arrests and referrals to law enforcement show disproportionate targeting of Black and Latino students. This is just one aspect of the school-to-prison pipeline, where some students are denied an opportunity to succeed, and instead are pushed out of school and into the juvenile or criminal justice system. While the complete emotional, social and financial impact of daily police presence in schools is not fully understood, it is clear that students and their families are criminalized, and that school-based arrests and referrals to law enforcement go up when police have a regular presence in schools.
On October 25, 2018, as part of the National Week of Action Against School Pushout, DSC released an updated set of resources from our Model Code on Education & Dignity. These resources provide recommendations for schools, districts, states and federal policy-makers to end the regular presence of law enforcement in schools and end the criminalization of students. They are based on best practices, research and experiences of students, parents, intervention workers, peace-builders and educators from around the country, and on a human rights framework for schools. They are designed so that communities and policy-makers can identify specific areas of concern and implement the recommended language, including changing laws and policies, while taking into account the diverse needs and characteristics of individual communities.
You can download a compiled PDF of the Model Policies to Fight Criminalization here, or download PDFs of each section:
Complete Model Policies to Fight Criminalization
Why Counselors, Not Cops?
Avoiding Criminalization in School Discipline: Law Enforcement (also available in Spanish)
Avoiding Criminalization in the Physical School Environment and Infrastructure
Protecting Immigrant Students from Criminalization
Model Policy 1: Fighting
Model Policy 2: Dress Code
Model Policy 3: Bullying Behavior
Model Policy 4: Drugs and Alcohol
Model Code on Education and Dignity
(Previous Version Released October 2013)
In October 2013, DSC released a new revised version of the Model Code, which includes new sections on: social and emotional learning, prevention and response to bullying behavior, reducing tickets and summonses issued in school, reducing racial disparities in discipline through culturally responsive classroom management, creating safe schools for LGBTQ students and other topics.
Model Code Executive Summary
Full Model Code
Model Code Comparison Tool
“How Do We Make Schools Safer?”
An article by Natalie Chap and Liz Sullivan on the policies suggested in the Model Code as positive and proven alternatives to policies that call for implementing a “law enforcement” approach to school safety and discipline.
Model Code Slideshow Presentations
Model Code Implementation webinar 2014
Model Code Webinar Alternative Schools
Model Code Webinar Data and Monitoring
Model Code Webinar Exclusion and Due Process
Model Code – PBIS
DSC Model Code Webinar 10.2
Model Code Webinar Restorative Justice
