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By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY ? The Rowan-Salisbury School System saw a 30 percent decrease in the number of reportable acts of crime and violence during the 2010-11 academic year, according to data released by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction this week.
?I think it?s wonderful,? said Dr. Jim Emerson, chairman of the Board of Education. ?I hope the trend keeps going in that direction.?
Statewide, that figure increased slightly from 11,608 to 11,657 reportable acts for a rate of 7.95 per 1,000 students.
Rowan-Salisbury?s rate fell by nearly 28 percent from 5.39 per 1,000 students to 3.9. The total number of incidents dipped from 109 to 76.
The Kannapolis City school system also saw a 25 percent decline in the number of reportable acts of crime and violence last year, dropping from 47 to 35.
The district?s rate fell by nearly 27 percent from 9.32 reportable acts per 1,000 students to 6.84.
?We always want the safest environment, but we also want an environment where students feel comfortable reporting what they see,? district spokeswoman Ellen Boyd said.
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The Safe Schools Act requires school districts to report 16 specified acts of crime and violence to the State Board of Education. Those range from alcohol possession to burning a school building to homicide.
Henderson Independent, the district?s alternative high school, had the highest rate of incidents with 83.3 per 1,000 students. The school reported six incidents last year, that?s down one from the previous year.
Southeast Middle had the highest rate of any regular school at 12.18 per 1,000 students. The school reported nine incidents for each of the past two years.
Carson High reported 11 acts of crime and violence last year, the most in the Rowan-Salisbury district for the second year in a row, that equates to a rate of 9.52 per 1,000 students. That?s down 57 percent from 26 incidents the previous year.
Erwin, China Grove, Corriher-Lipe and North Rowan middle schools as well as East Rowan and South Rowan high schools each reported five incidents.
Fourteen of the district?s schools reported no violations: Bostian, Cleveland, Shive, Enochville, Faith, Granite Quarry, Isenberg, Hanford Dole, Landis, Millbridge and Morgan elementary schools; Knox and West middle schools; and Rowan County Early College.
Kannapolis City?s only high school, A.L. Brown, had the highest number of reported acts for the district with 15, for a rate of 11.07 per 1,000 students.
That?s down 48 percent from the previous year when the school reported 29 incidents.
Although Kannapolis Middle followed closely behind with 12 incidents, the school?s rate is the highest in the district at 15.79 per 1,000 students.
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The most frequently reported violation both locally and statewide is possession of a controlled substance.
Rowan-Salisbury had 37 reports, eight of which came from Carson and Southeast.
Seventeen of those incidents were reported in Kannapolis schools, 12 at A.L. Brown High School, four at Kannapolis Middle and one at Kannapolis Intermediate.
Statewide that figure is 4,934, down from 5,172.
Possession of a weapon is the second most commonly reported criminal act.
In Rowan, Corriher Lipe Middle and Koontz Elementary reported three incidents apiece, and North Rowan Elementary had two. The district total was 17.
Kannapolis City reported 12 incidents of possession of a weapon, six of them at Kannapolis Intermediate and three at Kannapolis Middle.
Across the state, 3,954 acts were reported, up from 3,674 the previous year.
No local schools reported assault resulting in serious injury, robbery with a dangerous weapon, taking indecent liberties with a minor, rape, kidnapping, bomb threat or burning of a school building.
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As a result of the criminal or violent acts, students oftentimes receive either a short or long-term suspension.
Rowan?s short-term suspensions increased by nearly 3 percent from 4,327 in 2009-10 to 4,446 last year. But the number of long-term suspensions fell from 20 to 12.
?If students are not in school, they are not learning and they fall behind in their course work,? said Dr. Judy Grissom, superintendent of the Rowan-Salisbury School System. ?We continue to look at the profile of our at-risk students to determine the necessary programs that will help them to stay on track to graduate.
?The decreased number in long-term suspensions indicates that the programs we have in place to keep students in school are on target and successful.?
Kannapolis City had a 15 percent drop in short-term suspensions last year from 1,041 to 883. Long-term suspensions held steady at three.
Short-term suspension is classified as 10 days or fewer and long-term is defined as 11 days or more.
Neither school system had any expulsions in which students are not allowed to return to their home school or any school within the district.
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Rowan-Salisbury school officials attribute the drop in crime and violence in the district and the decline in the school?s long-term suspensions to programs like LINKS (Learning, Intervention, Nurturing, Knowledge and Student Achievement), which provides counselors and intervention specialists to work with at-risk students.
They also cite mentors as making a positive impact on students.
?I know it?s something the district is constantly working on with programs geared toward anti-bullying and the like,? Emerson said. ?Maybe some of that is catching on and our society is getting a little better altogether.?
Nathan Currie, the district?s assistant superintendent of administration, said a ?safe and structural environment? is a top priority for the school system.
?Our ongoing decrease in long-term suspensions and reportable offenses show a correlation with the various programs being offered at some schools,? he said. Among those are anti-bullying programs, alternative learning environments, suspension alternatives, and positive behavior support.
?Along with these initiatives, we must recognize the staff for being proactive when faced with discipline issues,? he said.
In Kannapolis, Boyd said the decline in crime and violence as well as short-term suspensions can be largely credited to the district?s new alternative learning program.
?It?s such a different setting,? she said. ?Those students are in a small class setting with a different environment that really minimizes that kind of behavior.?
Boyd said the program sends a message to high school students that bad behavior will not be tolerated at A.L. Brown.
?Our No. 1 goal is always student achievement and safety,? she said. ?The alternative program meets both those goals.?
The personalized attention at A.L. Brown can also be attributed to those declines, Boyd said.
?There is a lot of one-on-one focus that goes on at A.L. Brown, and I think that whole atmosphere contributes to the lower numbers,? she said.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
Twitter: twitter.com/posteducation
Facebook: facebook.com/Sarah.SalisburyPost
Reported acts of crime and violence
Assault involving use of a weapon
2 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
1 ? Erwin Middle
1 ? Corriher Lipe Middle
Assault on school personnel
7 ? Rowan Salisbury total
2 ? Henderson Independent High
1 ? Carson, North and Salisbury high schools; Overton, Hurley elementary schools
2 ? Kannapolis City total
1 ? A.L. Brown High, Kannapolis Middle
Possession of alcoholic beverage
4 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
2 ? South Rowan High
1 ? Carson and Salisbury high schools
2 ? Kannapolis City total, Kannapolis Middle
Possession of a controlled substance
37 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
8 ? Carson High, Southeast Middle
4 ? Henderson
5 ? China Grove Middle, East Rowan
2 ? North Middle, South Rowan High
1 ? North Rowan and West Rowan high schools; Corriher Lipe Middle
17 ? Kannapolis City total
12 ? A.L. Brown High
4 ? Kannapolis Middle
1 ? Kannapolis Intermediate
Possession of firearm
2 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
1 ? Carson High, North Rowan Middle
1 ? Kannapolis City total, Kannapolis Middle
Possession of a weapon
17 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
3 ? Corriher Lipe Middle, Koontz Elementary
2 ? North Rowan Elementary
1 ? China Grove, Knollwood, Mt. Ulla, Rockwell, Woodleaf elementary schools; North Rowan, Southeast middle schools; North Rowan, South Rowan high schools
12 ? Kannapolis City totals
6 ? Kannapolis Intermediate
3 ? Kannapolis Middle
2 ? A.L. Brown High
1 ? Shady Brook Elementary
Sexual assault
5 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
4 ? Erwin Middle
1 ? North Rowan Middle
1 ? Kannapolis total, Kannapolis Middle
Sexual offense
2 ? Rowan-Salisbury total
1 ? China Grove Elementary
1 ? West Rowan High
View the full report online at: http://www.dpi.state. nc.us/docs/research/discipline/reports/consolidated/2010-11/crimeviolence-c6.pdf
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