The total number of reportable acts of school crime and violence, short- and long-term student suspensions, and expulsions all decreased in 2011-12 according to the 2011-12 Consolidated Data Report today presented to State Board of Education members. The total number of acts of school crime and violence was the lowest reported number since 2008-09.
State Superintendent June Atkinson said there are two clear facts when it comes to high student achievement. “Students learn best in an environment where they feel safe and supported, and students not in school are at greater risk for dropping out. It is gratifying to see these numbers continuing to decline and I encourage educators to continue their efforts to keep schools as safe as possible and to encourage positive student behavior.”
Key findings of the 2011-12 Consolidated Data Report show that:
Crime and Violence
- The total number of reported acts of crime and violence decreased by 4.3 percent to 11,161 from 11,657 acts in 2010 -11. The rate of acts reported per 1,000 students also decreased by 5 percent to 7.63 from 8.03 the previous year.
- Schools are required to report 16 offenses that occur on campus or school property. Of those reported, violent offenses account for 3.7 percent or 416. The most frequently reported acts involved illegal possession of controlled substances, weapons (excluding firearms and powerful explosives) or alcoholic beverages and accounted for almost 84 percent or 9,361 of the total number of reported acts.
Suspensions and Expulsions
- Short-term suspensions (10 days or fewer) among students in all grades decreased in 2011-12. The total went from 266,488 to 258,197 – a 3.1 percent decrease. Of that total, 127,223 can be attributed to high school short-term suspensions (a 2 percent decrease from 2010-11). The average duration of a single short-term suspension was 2.73 school days.
- Long-term suspensions (11 days or more) among students in all grades declined 38.6 percent from 2,621 to 1,609. High school students received 1,177 long-term suspensions (a 34.6 percent decrease from 2010-11). The average duration of a long-term suspension was 53.8 school days.
- Expulsions also declined from 69 in 2010-11 to 30 in 2011-12 – a 56.5 percent decrease. High school students received 24 of these expulsions.
Corporal Punishment
- In 2011-12, 404 uses of corporal punishments were reported, a 54.7 percent decrease from the 891 reported in 2010-11. Of the 296 students reported as receiving corporal punishment, 230 received corporal punishment once, while 66 received it two or more times.
- Corporal punishment was used at least once by 12 school districts in 2011-12. Charter schools and the remaining 103 districts did not use corporal punishment.
- The use of corporal punishment is a local school board policy.
The full report detailing district-by-district data on all of these measures is available online at www.ncpublicschools.org/research/discipline/reports.