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Increase the state mandated time allotted for lunch from 30 minutes to an hour. Right now most teachers have 30 minutes for lunch, not including the time is takes to drop your students off to the cafeteria and go to the restroom. This is not enough time for teachers to even run to a fast-food restaurant. Having more time for lunch would greatly help the mental health of teachers as getting a legitimate break is often all we need.

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Teachers need Mental Health Days. Not PTO, not sick leave, but designated Mental Health Days that are specific for when teachers need time to take care of themselves. Dysregulated adults cannot help dysregulated students.

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Well-rounded education supports mental health

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Well-rounded education supports mental health

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The increase of high-stakes testing, such as STAAR, has severely restricted what classes are offered and taught in schools, pushing aside all subjects other than Reading and Math. The 2 other "core" subjects, science and social Studies, are often only taught when those subjects are being tested. This is not only negatively effecting students, but also how teachers teach. With the focus on STAAR subjects, schools often do not offer a wide variety of electives, which is contributing to low reading levels seen across the state. It is widely known that in order to be a high level reader, you must have a large amount of background knowledge to be able to comprehend what you're reading. Our students do not have this background knowledge, in part because what they are learning in schools is so narrowed. We need to reel back high-stakes standardized testing in order to create learning environments conducive to preparing students for the real world (not just how to take a test), and to give teachers back the power to teach a wide variety of subjects.

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There are red flags everywhere of those who are carrying pain while teaching, or learning. We often ask teachers to “be all things to all men”.
Teachers need administrators who are also trained in SEL to care for their staff and students. Hiring practices should require social emotional proficiency to lead campuses. Training for students and staff in self care and self advocacy,(a 21st century skill). Mental wellness curriculum, and separate counselors who are their just to provide support. Finally resources to build positive culture and spaces for all students and staff.

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My student was brought to me as a “special case”. After his parents divorce, and a sudden move he expressed to me, “I had lost everything I loved, my father,my friends, my neighborhood, everything.” He was placed in our school an expected to function as usual.  He had undiagnosed ADHD with a stutter.  Research shows that it is highly likely that this student would shut down, and shut down he did. One half year at his old school, and two and a half years at our school, he never passes a class… not one!
18 years old and classified as a sophomore.
What he needed was mental health support to help him grieve. Proper testing for learning disabilities and a loving supportive community to take him from where he was to where he needs to be. With the proper intervention, he is now three classes from graduation. Has hope and is learning to advocate for himself!

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My school district partnered with a local counseling group to provide free virtual support groups for teachers. Teachers are able to sign up for a group that meets throughout the semester, with a variety of days and times to choose from. The groups are led by a counselor, but they rely on teacher input to guide the topics of discussion and resources provided. It has been a great source of support for a lot of our teachers!

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I (special education teacher) worked with a student for several years who had significant struggles with behavior. Early on, when I saw how intense his needs were, I tried to activate the system we had in place to get this child a formal behavior evaluation and a better support plan. I was told that his behavior was not severe enough to allow him to get these services, despite the fact that he was running from the classroom several times a day and was physically aggressive with teachers and peers on a daily basis.

We worked hard and made a lot of progress together, but unfortunately, the return to in-person learning after covid was extremely challenging for him. His behavior had a major regression. We had a wonderful counselor and behavior specialist who stepped in at this time to support me, but the other demands on their time left them unable to do much other than consult with me occasionally over the phone. Meanwhile, this child struggled more and more, and I felt increasingly helpless.

Eventually, it got to the point where my attention had to be 100% focused on him all day to protect his safety and the safety of the other students. I did not take a lunch break or a planning period as there was no one else available to take care of him. All of my other students worked solely with paraprofessionals.

His parents eventually pulled him out of school when they felt that we were no longer able to keep him safe. Years later, I still think of this child almost every day and wish I could have done more. I believe we had supports in the district that could have helped us, but when those supports are stretched so incredibly thin, it's like they are not even there.

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Adjust Texas Education Code section 21.404, increasing teacher's entitled planning time from 450 minutes within each 2-week period, to at least 450 minutes each week. This would help to guarantee at least 1.5 hours of planning time each day. This time should not include meetings nor class coverage, instead be set specifically for planning and teacher needs. Alternatively, moving to 4 day school weeks with 1 day dedicated to planning would tremendously help the unrealistic workload that teachers face.

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Restorative Practice Coordinators on each campus. In Austin ISD we have two that serve our whole district so it's difficult to follow through with restorative practices in a timely manner for some of our students who need this support the most. 

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Restorative Practice Coordinators on each campus. In Austin ISD we have two that serve our whole district so it's difficult to follow through with restorative practices in a timely manner for some of our students who need this support the most. 

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Overview

Recognizing the need to build relationships and maintain positive connections to students and their families, Austin ISD has embarked on the development of a districtwide Culturally Responsive Restorative Practices Model. This student-focused model will frame the school-level climate and culture, ultimately preparing all students for college, career and life.

Restorative practices in Austin ISD builds on the foundation set out below:

Seven Core Assumptions About Human Beings

These are basic ideas that we believe to be true about human nature and our relationships to the world. It is important to be aware of one's core assumptions, because what we believe to be true shapes what we see. Our beliefs form the prism through which we see ourselves and others in the world.

The true self in everyone is good, wise and powerful.

The world is profoundly interconnected.

All human beings have a deep desire to be in a good relationship.

All humans have gifts, and everyone is needed for what they bring.

Everything we need to make positive change is already here.

Human beings are holistic.

We need practices to build habits of living from the core self.

Source: 'Circle Forward: Building a Restorative School Community' by Boyes-Watson & Pranis

Interested in learning more about restorative practices? We invite you to access the free, online professional learning our team is offering this school year. Learn more about it on our professional learning schedule.

Education Innovation Research Grant

The U.S. Department of Education awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant to Austin ISD in October of 2017 for school years' 2017 (Fall)-2022 (Fall). The Education Innovation and Research Grant is designed to support whole school implementation of culturally responsive restorative
practices at six elementary schools (Barrington, Becker, Blazier, Blanton, Cook and Pickle) and four middle schools (Dobie, Mendez, Garcia YMLA and Burnet).

Sarah N. Johnson is the EIR Grant Coordinator and Project Director. The grant provides one grant coordinator and seven Restorative Practices Associates. Four RPAs support the middle schools, and three elementary RPAs support two elementary schools. The RPAs are closely aligned to support SEL and CP&I, Trauma-Informed practices, No Place for Hate, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and Mental Health Centers.

For more information, review the year three implementation report at the link below:

The following questions guide the work of the EIR grant:

How do we prepare the adults in EIR Schools to create identity-safe campus spaces and places where student voice, agency and self-efficacy transform the school into a culturally responsive restorative space?

How do we prepare third-grade students to be the sixth-grade students that will transform their feeder middle school into a culturally responsive restorative space?

How do we prepare sixth-grade students to be the ninth-grade students that will transform their feeder high school into a culturally responsive restorative space?

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Grant

The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded a $775,000, three-year grant to support a comprehensive approach to address youth violence and victimization at three campuses in Austin ISD. Crockett ECHS, Covington Middle School, and the Alternative Learning Center are implementing prevention, intervention, and accountability efforts that are community-driven and multi-tiered to include universal, school-wide programming as well as targeted interventions for youth exposed to violence. This includes youth identified as at risk for delinquency and/or youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Crockett ECHS has a Restorative Practices Associate on their campus supporting Restorative Practices implementation campus wide. Learn more about the grant on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website.

Contact Information

Oscar Adams

Assoc. Director of Discipline
Email: oscar.adams@austinisd.org

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Overview Recognizing the need to build relationships and maintain positive connections to students and their families, Austin ISD has embarked on the development of a districtwide Culturally Responsive Restorative Practices Model. This student-focused model will frame the school-level climate and cu…

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Start making funding decisions based on what we want for one student. What programs should be available for this kid? How many teachers? What's a reasonable wait time to see a psychologist? Then make funding decisions based on that instead of general each student costs...
Use the budget surplus to fund based on what students SHOULD have access to. Give schools and districts the funds to run ideal programs and then local entities can go from there to decide which programs are right for their communities.

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A student at our school was murdered over Spring Break by a former student. The first day back to school, when many students were finding this information out and our community was grieving and processing, my principal called me into the room to discuss what we were going to do about our upcoming test scores...

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One year I had a student that indentified as LGBTQ+ and her parents did not accept her. Almost every day she came to my room in tears full of self-loathing and pain from not being accepted at home. She felt entirely unloved by the people who were supposed to love her most.

Every day she wanted to know what she could do to alleviate the situation and every day she dreaded going home.
She would ask me things like "Why don't they love me?"

What am I supposed to say to that? This wasn't a CPS issue and the counselors were aware of her situation but I was her chosen adult. What do I say to this kid who feels rejected and abandoned by the people who are supposed to love her most? How do I help her through this pain? How do I carry this pain; how do I go home every day knowing that this kid is hurting so bad and I'm impotent to help?

When I asked for resources to help her or to help ME help her, I was directed to a website. That was it. Nothing else, but a website and me left to my own devices to figure out how to help her carry her pain.