Dear SCCPSS Administrators and Staff,
When a student is placed in a 20- or 30-day virtual diversion placement, the Mediation Center will provide mediation or a restorative conference for the student(s) and their guardian(s).
Once we receive the request to provide a mediation the Mediation Center will perform the following:
- Pre-work: we contact each guardian for permission to speak with their child about the incident; we gather information from all guardians and students. If we find out others (students, people in the neighborhood, etc.) have been affected, we will attempt to contact and determine if they should be part of the session.
- Schedule: the Mediation Center will set a time for the session and all parties will receive an email with the date and time and more information about the process.
- Select mediator/facilitator: a Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution mediator or Restorative Conferencing Facilitator will facilitate the session.
- Remind: the Mediation Center will send a reminder email one business day prior to the session. The email will include instructions on how to connect to the secure zoom session. The parties will also receive an email to electronically sign the ADR Guidelines.
- Conduct session: the session will be conducted with the desired outcome of reaching an agreement between parties regarding behaviors, strategies for dealing with conflict when returning to school, and identification of support resources at school and possibly other community resources.
- Finalize: A disposition is created for each case referred and emailed to the person who referred the students. If an agreement is reached, the agreement will be included with the disposition.
Frequently asked questions:
Q: How do I refer a conflict/suspended student where more than two students were part of the dispute?
A: The Request Form to refer a virtual diversion placement student only has fields for two students. Please submit an additional form as many times as required.