Public Forum at Plainfield Opera House.
Monday, February 23rd at 6:30 pm- 830p
Public discussion on January report released by Vermont Legal Aid: Kicked Out! Unfair and Unequal Student Discipline in Vermont’s Public Schools. http://goo.gl/fWNcCf On Monday the 23rd, Jay Diaz, the author of the report will get us started with a brief overview of What’s Happening, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do to Stop It. Diaz said, "We're not alleging any bias, but we are saying that this is what is happening, we don't think it should be, no one should be more likely to be suspended just because they are a student with a disability or a student of color, or a student from a low-income family."
Additional speakers include: Max Barrows of Green Mountain Self-Advocates, David Manning who is the Principal at Johnson Elementary School, Mel Motel from The Just Schools Project and Sha'an Mouliert from Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform. We will leave ample time for questions and discussion. Many are questioning if there is a School-to-Prison pipeline in Vermont.
For more information call 800-564-9990.
**ACCESS INFORMATION**
The Plainfield Opera House has a wheelchair lift between the two floors and an accessible gender-neutral bathroom on the first floor. At Opera House events, we ask that everyone coming do as much as they can to be fragrance free so that people who have chemical sensitivities and related illness can participate. We would love to be able to offer childcare upon request. Please let us know if you would like childcare for a particular event or if you are willing to offer childcare yourself.
> Moderator:
>
> Mel Motel:
>
> As Director of Brattleboro-based Just Schools Project, Mel Motel works with people in schools to use restorative practices to respond to harmful behavior without relying on punishment or exclusion. The work to transform school discipline is connected to a broader movement to end mass incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline. Mel has taught middle and high school students and a "Community and Restorative Justice" course at the Community College of Vermont.
>
>
> Presenters:
>
> Max Barrows is a young man with Autism who believes in self-determination! Since 2007, Max Barrows has worked for Green Mountain Self-Advocates as the Outreach Director. He provides training and technical assistance statewide, traveling to 21 local self-advocacy groups around Vermont. Max Barrows has talents as a public speaker. He has been called upon often to MC at conferences and delivers keynote speeches. Max is currently on the national board of Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE). Max loves meeting new people in all these roles and learning more about the world. In his spare time, Max has strong interests in extreme weather, traveling, and sports. Max excels at writing scripts for short videos about peer to peer connections. He is skilled at filming, editing, and posting videos on YouTube.
>
>
>
> Jay Diaz is a staff attorney with Vermont Legal Aid’s Disability Law Project and Vermont Law Help Hotline. He was the 2012-2014 Vermont Bar Foundation’s Poverty Law Fellow, for which he created an education law project representing low-income families to ensure access, stability, and equity in Vermont’s education system. Jay is Vermont Legal Aid’s representative on the Vermont Child Poverty Council and the Children’s Justice Act Task Force, and he is a member of the Special Education Advocates Coalition. Jay is a 2012 graduate of Boston College Law School.
>
>
> David Manning: I have been the principal at Johnson Elementary School since July 1, 2009. Previously, I served as the Assistant Principal and Guidance Director at Hazen Union School in Hardwick and as a high school guidance counselor at Peoples Academy in Morrisville. This year marks my 19th school year working in public schools in the Lamoille Valley.
>
>
>
> I grew up in Connecticut and attended Trinity College in Hartford, where I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. After a winter as a ski instructor at Okemo Mountain (where I fell in love with Vermont!), I earned a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Boston College in Massachusetts. While working at Hazen Union, I completed the necessary coursework at Lyndon State College to obtain the Vermont School Administrator Endorsement.
>
> I live with my wife and three sons in Hyde Park, Vermont.
>
>
>
> Sha'an Mouliert is a consultant, community organizer, trainer, educator, artist and co-founded the African American Alliance of the Northeast Kingdom (Vermont), a grassroots organization committed to racial justice. Until recently, she chaired the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s (WILPF) Building the Beloved Community Committee, whose mission is to provide educational information about the history and nature of systemic racism, connections between oppressions, internalized oppressions,