Research confirms that school systems across the country depend heavily on exclusionary discipline practices that place a significant number of minority students in the criminal justice system for issues that could be addressed in school. To address the problem, The Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association is partnering with Nova Law Review to present Shutting Down the School to Prison Pipeline on Sept. 18. The one-day symposium will provide a national platform to address the unnecessary incarceration of teens. Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince will keynote the symposium at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The forum will explore schools’ zero tolerance procedures that result in an over reliance of exclusionary discipline, referrals of students to the juvenile justice system for relatively minor infractions, racial disparities in discipline protocols as well as disparate treatment of students according to special needs status and gender.

The event will also present a series of reform recommendations that utilize legal, legislative and administrative resources and remedies. Innovative alternatives like restorative justice, classroom management and positive behavior intervention, and other conflict resolution strategies will be explored.

To register, visit https://www.law.nova.edu/alumni/shutting-down-the-school-to-prison-pipeline.html.