Peer Jury guides wayward students
In an effort to keep students out of the judicial system, the Keystone Oaks School District recently started a new way of dealing with students who may otherwise end up with a criminal record.
The Peer Jury at Keystone Oaks started in December. The idea for the jury came from the district’s police officer, Aaron Vanetta, who had previously been involved in a similar program while working in Washington County.
Vanetta said the concept of a peer jury is not a new one, and other states have used peer juries since the 1970s. He added that a section of the state safe schools act encourages schools to do court-based programs. Vanetta said as far as he knows, Keystone Oaks has the only peer jury in Allegheny County.
“We have them once a month,” Vanetta said of the peer jury sessions in which the jury – 12 members and four alternates – hears cases and hands down punishments. The jury is made up of juniors and seniors at Keystone Oaks, and there are an equal number of jurors from each borough in the district.
The jury is based on balanced and restorative justice and the students who face the jury are treated equally and held accountable for their actions. Vanetta said the goal is to “restore what was tarnished.”
Middle and high school students who are first-time offenders and who have violated school policy can face the jury instead of going through the judicial system. Vanetta said if the school policy that is broken is also a criminal act, going before the peer jury and completing the “sentence” handed down may divert the student from having to go to court.
“We have everything in house, and then they don’t have a criminal record,” Vanetta said. “It’s a true diversion program.”
After the accused student and his/her parents are questioned by the jury, the jurors decide on the terms of a contract the offender must complete in order to take responsibility for their actions. After the contract is completed, which could range from one to three months, the case is closed.
Jury members Melissa McCarthy and Alyssa Novelli, both juniors, said they joined the jury because they’re interested in studying law in college.
“It’s like a training course,” Novelli said. They said the cases they’ve been involved in include underage drinking, vandalism and stealing. McCarthy said the punishment for the underage drinking was having that student go into a program and go to counseling.
“It’s really different,” McCarthy said.
“It’ makes you put yourself in their shoes,” and see people’s experiences differently, Novelli said. Both girls said that most of the students that go before the jury aren’t “bad kids” but they may have other problems in their family that causes them to act out in school.
Keystone Oaks junior Lucas Grasha, who is also a member of the jury, said, “I think it’s interesting.” He said although he’s not considering going into law as a profession, he likes to learn about legal proceedings and how things are carried out in a courtroom-like setting.
Grahsa added that one case in particular where a student was having problems at home “made me want to cry.”
“I’m looking to be a lawyer,” said peer jury member Alysha Kronz, a junior at Keystone Oaks. She said from being on the jury she’s learned “not to judge people when you first see them. It’s not always what it seems.” Kronz added that being on the jury has been a “very rewarding experience.”
In addition to a jury of peers, there are also adult professionals who serve in an advisory manor to the jury. Members of the oversight committee include Magisterial District Judge Blaise Larontonda, Green Tree Police Chief Robert Downey Jr., Castle Shannon Police Officer Gary Watkins, Keystone Oaks High School teacher Mark Elphinstone and Keystone Oaks mental health counselor Nahir Gordon.
“It’s a great thing,” Larotonda said of the peer jury. He added that going before the peer jury gives the students “the opportunity to change their behavior before something goes to me.”
Larotonda added that the peer jury is “pretty much what I do in court.” He said he’s not seen as many students in his courtroom from the district as in the past because of the peer jury. “I wish more schools would do it,” he said.