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Not long after Mark Larson took over the job as Lincoln High principal in 2015, he met Lighthouse Executive Director Bill Michener for coffee to brainstorm ways they could work together -- and before long the conversation turned to students suspended from school.

Out-of-school suspension -- or OSS -- is a problematic form of discipline because students who are already struggling fall farther behind and those with working parents are often left without supervision.

Research shows kicking kids out of school for a day or two hurts student achievement, Larson said, countering the prevailing wisdom that being suspended is a strong enough consequence that students "learn their lesson."

“I think we’ve found over time that doesn’t just magically happen,� he said. “The more students are suspended out of school, the more likely they are not to graduate.�

Enter the longtime afterschool program at 26th and N streets, which offers a non-judgmental place for students to gather, do homework and find adults who support them.

“We just do things differently at Lighthouse,� Michener said. “We meet them where they’re at, we don’t judge them, we build relationships with them. ... It’s more like a family environment with a purpose."

Students can receive in-school or out-of-school suspension for various violations of school rules, and Lincoln High administrators have successfully tried to reduce the latter.

There's been a 15 percent decrease in out-of-school suspensions in the past year -- from 292 last year to 247 this year -- and that’s with 150 additional students, Larson said. Those numbers may include more than one suspension for the same student.

Still, some offenses -- such as assaults or verbal attacks that create an unsafe environment -- require out-of-school suspension. Enter Michener and Lighthouse.

"Although they got in trouble, we’re not there to judge them, we’re there to help them get to the finish line,� he said.

Michener found about $5,000 in juvenile justice funds to run a pilot program over the last five weeks of school.

During that time, 11 Lincoln High students were suspended and seven of them took advantage of the Lighthouse program.

Lincoln High sent the students' assignments to Lighthouse. They got lunch and worked on their homework -- but just as importantly, Michener said, they spent time talking about what they’d done wrong, how they could repair the harm they’d done and how to avoid making the same mistake again.

The process is called “restorative justice,� and involves -- literally -- sitting in a circle discussing what happened and how to repair the harm, he said.

“It can get very powerful.�

Lincoln High has been using similar "restorative justice" practices in school, and that’s one of the things Larson is most excited about with the pilot.

“Almost any adult can sit with kids and make sure they get their homework done,� he said. “But to have someone there to talk about choices, repairing harm -- that’s what’s really awesome about this.�

On Tuesday, the Lincoln Board of Education approved a memorandum of understanding for the next school year, which means the program can continue -- if Michener and Larson can find outside funding. 

That hasn't happened yet, but Larson said he’s hopeful they’ll find it. Ultimately, Michener said, he’d love to see the program expand districtwide.

It's too soon to judge whether such a program will keep kids from repeating behavior that gets them suspended, but feedback from students who participated was positive.

“Kids who came in didn’t want to be there at first,� Michener said. “But they had caring adults around them. It really changed their perspective.�