Given the increase of violence against Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), there is no doubt a need to tackle racialized violence in schools. This phenomenological study draws on semi-structured interviews with school counselors to explore their experiences and practices to disrupt the racialized disciplinary practices that disproportionally target Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color. We draw on theories of racialized organizations and organizational routines to better understand how school counselors make sense of their practices in racialized disciplinary practices that dehumanize and criminalized youth of color. Findings from this study revealed two themes: 1) school counselors’ perceived neutrality towards disciplinary practices and 2) school counselors’ advocacy in racialized school discipline practices. This study offers some implications for professional school counseling organization, counselor educators, and school counselors to inform their anti-racist pedagogy to dismantle racialized punitive practices in schools.

Across the nation, various movements have persistently called for the removal of punitive practices in school; this includes removing law enforcement officers (LEOs) and school resource officers (SROs) and prioritizing funding toward student support services. This chapter brings attention to the role of school administrators and how they can leverage and support school counselors to address disparities in school discipline that impact racially minoritized youth. The authors draw on the theory of racialized organizations to demonstrate how schools are a racialized space, as individual agency is constrained or enabled by their social position within the organization, and how schools further reproduce inequity through their unequal distribution of resources. This chapter offers some practical approaches to reveal how school administrators can leverage school counselors to dismantle disparities in school discipline and prioritize practices of care.