Violence in Pennsylvania Schools on the Decline
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The number of violent incidents at Pennsylvania schools declined during the 2005-06 school year, according to a report from the state Department of Education.
The department’s annual school safety report found that assaults on students in the state’s public school system decreased for the third year in a row, dropping 17 percent, and assaults on staff declined by more than 18 percent.
In city school districts, such as Pittsburgh Public Schools, the number of assaults on students and staff fell by almost 50 percent in 2005-06. Violent incidents involving students dropped to 310 from 674 in 2004-05, and assaults on teachers decreased to 177 from 371 during the same time period, the report states.
The district also reported fewer fights — 1,640 in 2005-06 compared with 1,774 in 2004-05.
Pennsylvania schools saw a 35 percent drop in the number of incidents involving a firearm in 2005-06, marking the third consecutive year that the amount of firearm possessions has declined.
Other categories that showed decline during the 2005-06 school year include sexual offenses, which dropped by 2 percent, and incidents involving illegal possession or use of controlled substances, alcohol or tobacco, which dropped by more than 8 percent.
The report analyzed safety information from Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts, 29 intermediate units, 78 area vocational-technical schools and 109 charter schools, to provide an overview of the state’s school safety climate. In addition to physical violence, the report presents data on drug use, student absences, expulsions and school security staffing levels.
While the total number of school safety incidents rose by 9 percent, officials believe the increase may be due to more data being requested by the education department and stricter reporting requirements from law enforcement agencies.
School districts reported 10,309 fights in 2005-06, an increase of 68 percent over 2004-05, which analysts attribute to more comprehensive reporting of lesser incidents of violence and more thorough reporting by schools.
Incidents involving bullying, reported for only the second year in 2005-06, rose by 32 percent.
The number of reported incidents that involved local law enforcement agencies increased 12 percent from 2004-05. However, there were only 115 additional arrests on school campuses in 2005-06.