Following a threat of a school shooting in March, MVSD accepted a coordinator to improve the culture of LBHS and to “implement school-wide restorative practices initiative focused on respect, accountability and empathy,” according to Public School Funding Alliance (PSFA), which made the hire.
The program costs $50,000, which PSFA received from a Game Changer grant from the Community Foundation of North Central Washington. The grant funds a part-time culture coordinator at LBHS for the 2025-2026 school year.
Just what are restorative practices and what does this all mean?
That’s what new Culture Coordinator Isaac Cordes set out to explain Oct. 13 in the MVE cafeteria. A 2015 LBHS graduate, Cordes studied biology at the University of Oregon with the intent of becoming a high school science teacher. Instead, he found himself in a supportive role and then worked for three years as a restorative justice coordinator at a school in Portland, training that proved useful for his work at LBHS.
Restorative practices are either proactive or reactive measures. Proactive measures set the culture and expectations for the community. Reactive measures are used when conflict has already occurred. The success or using reactive measures depends on the time invested in proactive measures.
“You can’t really have successful reactive measures with harm repairs, circles, conversations, if you’re not laying the groundwork first with proactive measures,” said Cordes.
Four Levels of Restorative Practices
“Community Building Circles“ is the first of four levels of restorative practices and is the only proactive measure. It is a way of building community by engaging with people in small to medium sized circles in activities such as check-ins, games and weekly reflections.
Every Monday, LBHS students engage in Community Building Circles during the 30-minute advisory period. Advisory periods occur at LBHS Mondays through Thursdays and allow time for students to meet with mentors, tutors, and with other students in an organized group. This year, Monday’s advisory period is devoted to restorative practices.
The second level is called “Restorative Inquiries/Check-ins,“ which take place when something with repercussions has transpired. It can be initiated by anyone, even in the moment. Questions addressed at this level include:
- What happened?
- Who was affected/impacted by what happened?
- What can be done to make things better?
- What will keep things better?
- How can others support you?
The foundation for its success is built on Community Building Circles. If the former does not go well, there will be challenges at this level.
The third layer is “Restorative Conferences,” which occur when there are severe conflicts. A culture coordinator will meet individually with everyone involved and ask the same questions as in a restorative inquiry. If everyone is willing to engage in harm repair, which is the goal of restorative practices, the parties will participate in a restorative conference, which is mediated by the culture coordinator.
According to Cordes, conversation at this level “works to facilitate direct communication between the parties and builds toward shared goals and agreements for moving forward.”
The final layer is “Restorative Circles,” which takes place when an incident harms the larger community. A culture coordinator facilitates these circles and school staff participate with students. These circles take more time and can be more intense than the previous circles and conferences, but a strong foundation in practicing the previous layers contributes to making this layer more successful.
Following another gun scare on school grounds on Oct. 16, all three schools participated this past Monday in “age appropriate classroom conversation[s] clarifying facts about the incident and a chance to share their experience,” according to the school district’s announcement. MVSD School Psychologist Alicia Covell provided teachers scripts to facilitate conversation.
Complement, Not a Replacement for Disciplinary Action
Restorative practices stem from Native American culture where people sit in a circle and engage in inquiry to understand one another. Restorative practice circles can focus on harm repair, accountability, or target specific behavior such as absenteeism, tardiness, or misbehavior in class.
“It’s kind of targeting that population and pulling them all together to figure out what’s going on and building a sense of understanding of what’s actually happening. What are we missing? What can they do? What can we do?” said Cordes.
Restorative practices can occur directly between the parties involved or with a mediator. In a school setting, that could include an adult.
Cordes said harm repair provides an alternative to the traditional model that punishes and isolates the offender. He cited an example in Portland where a student made fun of a teacher with Tourette syndrome. The student was punished, but restorative practice was also used, with the permission of everyone involved, and it became a learning opportunity for the student and for the other students that witnessed it.
“All [restorative practices] is doing is adding another layer, another option, another area for our students to learn and to learn from their mistakes and to challenge themselves, but we still have our disciplinary system in place, because obviously there are situations that we need the discipline to happen,” said Cordes.
Cordes acknowledged that high schoolers can get to know one another really well since they are assigned to the same advisory teacher and group for four years. Junior high groups are more fluid, he said, and he is focusing on that group right now while still advising the high school.
Cordes divided attendees into two groups to experience Community Building Circles. Participants were asked warm up questions about their favorite animal and whether they would give up fruit or cheese if pressed. Next came a question about a challenge they’ve overcome or a proud moment they would like to share.
LBHS Principal Elyse Darwood said Cordes is training students and staff in restorative practices so that they can continue the culture at LBHS, whether the coordinator position is renewed or not. ILC has been implementing restorative practices for years, but LBHS started only in the last school year. Cordes advises MVE but does not work with students there directly.
