Now that you know about the negative impacts of the school to prison pipeline and positive alternatives, you can focus on making the case to change your school district’s policies and practices.  This involves reaching out to decision makers to persuade them to change.  Before the 2019-2020 school year, every school district in Washington will have to revise its school discipline policies and will have to consult with parents and community members.  This is an important time to make your voice heard!

To advocate with your school board, you should:

1. Learn about your district's policies and data

School district policies can have a major impact on how frequently students are suspended and expelled, and for what behaviors. When you are advocating to end practices the school-to-prison pipeline in your school district, you should be familiar with your school district’s policies and procedures.

What are your school district policies?

School districts are required by law to have clear discipline policies and procedures that spell out the school rules, consequences for violating those rules, and procedures for challenging discipline imposed on a student. 

Under a new state law, schools are required to distribute discipline policies and procedures to families.  If you are the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school district, you may have received the policies and procedures in a back to school packet or student handbook.

Many school districts also post school discipline policies online.  Check your school district’s website for policies and procedures related to students. In addition, Washington’s Public Records Act allows any person to make a request for records from government agencies, including school districts:

• [Download] A list of questions to ask about your school discipline policies and procedures
• [Download] A sample Public Records Act request for school district discipline policies

Which groups of students are most impacted by suspension in your district?

In addition, data on suspensions and expulsions can give you a good sense of which groups of students are more likely to be suspended, expelled, or arrested, and for what behaviors. The data can also help you compare your district to other districts in Washington and across the country.

Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction publishes data on suspension and expulsion in each school district. The data is broken down by student group, and you can make comparisons across districts. 

To help you get started, we’ve provided a webinar on navigating OSPI’s discipline data:

• OSPI Discipline Data Webinar Part I
• OSPI Data Webinar Part II

In addition, the federal Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights publishes the  “Civil Rights Data Collection.” The federal data is different than Washington’s. We recommend you use OSPI data on suspension and expulsion, but use the federal data to learn about student arrests. 

You can find more information about how to use the federal data here:

• Dignity in Schools Civil Rights Data Collection Webinar

2. Develop Strategies to Influence School Board Members 

In Washington school districts, most policy decisions are made by an elected board of directors, commonly called a “school board.”

• [Download]:  Introduction to school boards

If you want to change school district policies, you’ll have to convince your school board to work with you. School board officials, like all elected officials, work for the public in their district. As a parent or community member, you have a right to make your voice heard! Some of the ways you can influence school board decisions include:

Serving on a school board committee or workgroup

Many school boards, particularly in larger districts, have committees and workgroups that give the school board advice or make recommendations about particular issues. For example, school boards are required by law to involve parents, teachers, students, and community members in developing and reviewing school discipline policies. Many school boards will set up a committee to do that work, and school board directors are often eager to hear from parents who volunteer their time.

If you are interested in working on a particular issue, you should contact school board members and offer to participate in any workgroups on the issue. You can also reach out to the superintendent to offer to volunteer. 

Before the 2019-2020 school year, each district will have to consult with parents and community members when developing discipline policies. You should reach out as soon as possible to your school district superintendent’s office to let them know you’d like to serve on that committee. We’ve provided a sample letter to help you get started.

• [Download]: Sample letter to ask to serve on school discipline policy committee

Meeting with individual school board members

Meeting directly with an individual school board member can be an excellent way to get their perspective on the issue and provide more information. Many school board members will take the time to meet with parents or community members in small groups. 

Some tips for those meeting:

• Ask to meet to talk about a specific topic. Be clear about what you want the school board to do.  Change a particular policy? Introduce a new program or better support an existing one? Include parents in decisions about a particular issue?
• Identify your most important points: Pick a few points that you think are the most important for the school board member and write them down!
• Talk about your personal connection to the issue: Parents and community members have a lot of expertise to bring to school board members. Telling personal stories about the impact of board policies has a lot of impact, and it can also help board members understand the impact of their policies. In addition, parents and community members can share their expertise about the best solutions to the challenges in the school.
• Consider bringing others with you: If you have set up an individual meeting with a board member, bringing more than four or five people can be hard to manage. Sometimes, a one-on-one conversation will be most effective. If you decide to bring others, keep it small, and bring people who represent different groups that have an interest in the issue. Let the board member know ahead of time how many people will attend the meeting.
• Follow up with a letter or testimony to the whole board: Even if you’ve spoken to each school board member individually, it’s always helpful to present your points officially to the entire school board through a letter or testimony at a school board meeting.

Writing or emailing individual school board members

School board members typically have official email addresses with the school district. Letters, emails and phone calls can be a good way to communicate with them! Some sample letters are linked below:

• [Download]:  Sample letter on school discipline
• [Download]: Sample letter on school police

Speaking at a school board meeting

• How do I know when school board meetings happen? School boards meet regularly to discuss issues and make decisions, typically at least once a month and typically on the same day or time (for example, the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m.).
• How do I learn what a school board will discuss at a meeting? Under Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act, school boards must publish their agendas at least 24 hours in advance. Most school boards publish their meeting schedules and agendas online: search for “[District Name] School Board” to find out when and where your school board will meet.
• Am I entitled to speak at a school board meeting? The law does not clearly require school boards to take public comment on every policy or issue, but most school boards provide the opportunity for public comment. Sometimes, a board will call for public comment about a particular proposal. Other boards offer general time for public comment about any issue the public wants to bring to the board’s attention. The board meeting agenda will tell you whether your school board has a general public comment period or not.  If there is a public comment period, prepare 2-3 points you’d like to make and plan to speak for about 2-5 minutes.
• Can I bring others to a school board meeting? If you are going to a school board meeting, bring along as many other parents, students and community members as you can! Not everyone needs to speak; just being there will let the board members know you care. Plan a carpool, share child care responsibilities or meet for dinner ahead of time so you can all make it there together.

3. Using Media and Social Media 

Sometimes, school board members are more likely to make change if a large group of people are pushing for it.  In that case, media and social media can be strong tools to help you connect with others interested in the same issue and work together to push for change.

Using social media

Social media can be an effective tool to connect with other parents and community members who care about these issues. You can start a Facebook page to post articles and host discussion about these issues, tweet about the school to prison pipeline, or participate in other groups.  You can find some communications tips for talking about school discipline here:

• Reframing School Discipline: A Communications Playbook

Using traditional media

You can also bring attention to your issue by publishing a guest editorial or letter to the editor in your local newspaper.  Some sample op-eds and letters are below:

• The School to Prison Pipeline:  Time to Shut it Down
• Stop the School to Prison Pipeline
• School to prison can’t be our aim
• How to shut down the school-to-prison pipeline
• What makes a school safe