School as a Potential Support System: The K-12 Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated People

Schools do not support all students and sometimes contain policies that actively harm them. It is known that the school-to-prison pipeline, zero-tolerance policies, and other punitive measures impede students’ school experiences. At the same time, there are alternatives such as restorative justice and alternative education that aim to remedy some of the faults of the education system. In light of this, I aimed to see whether schools supported formerly incarcerated people when they were in traditional K-12 schooling since there is a lack of research regarding this population. I used a mixed methodology of surveys and interviews to analyze and answer the questions: In what ways, if any, did school create a support system for people who were formerly incarcerated when they were in K-12 schools? Were formerly incarcerated people’s experiences in schools characterized by aspects of the school-to-prison pipeline? Did formerly incarcerated people experience any aspects of alternative education or discipline, and if so, did these positively or negatively affect their schooling experience? I found that schools as a whole do not support students, but individual people such as teachers or administrators sometimes do. I argue that participants did experience aspects of the school-to-prison pipeline, especially in regard to suspension and expulsion. I also found that participants did not experience any forms of alternative discipline or education. My findings led me to conclude that schools did not create support systems for the participants of my study. These findings show the need to change school policies and practices to ensure that students feel supported and benefit from the schools they attend.

Keywords: formerly incarcerated, support system, school-to-prison pipeline, alternative education, alternative discipline