Since the court was overwhelmed with the many student ticket trials, first appeals for the new program “peer mediation court” will be heard next tuesday.
“I just saw that if I gave a kid a ticket could get them back into the classroom and keep them off the streets,” Officer Barbara Collado said. “that has been my goal”
Through Barbara Collado’s 6 years of patrolling the school the number of tickets have increased every year, therefore the number of students out of class have increased also. arrests on campus have decreased from 12, six years ago to just 3 last year and none this year as of march.
“We’ve seen where peer mediation in other schools has been quite successful,” local lawyer, Lauren Davis said. “We think it will alleviate some pressure of the court system here, and let the students feel like they really have a chance here.”
If a student receives a ticket or other punishment, they are not required to appeal to the court. They may pay their ticket, serve their detention or accept the punishment they have been given. The peer mediation court is for those who disagree with their punishment.
“We interviewed over 100 people to find the panel of six to serve,” principal Ralph Masters said. “we didn’t want students who would always make the decisions we wanted. We wanted students who were leaders and knew right from wrong.”
in this new system “peer mediation” the students would appear in front of a new panel of their peers to defend themselves. students who do this will not have their infraction recorded in school or city files, but must abide by the decision of the panel.
“When this opportunity came up i knew i wanted to sit on the panel. I can help others who have felt that they have noone to turn to” junior and member of the judging panel said. “Im not that patient to those who blatantly break the rules. If they mess up, they need to pay for their errors, but sometimes cleaning the lunchroom is better than a day in in-school-suspension.”