Other data released Wednesday in the 2012-2013 Consolidated Data Report show that:

 

** School Crime and Violence

The total number of reported acts of school crime and violence decreased by 4.8 percent to 10,630 from 11,161 acts in 2011-12. The rate of acts per 1,000 students also decreased by 5.6 percent to 7.20 acts per 1,000 students as compared to 7.63 acts per 1,000 students in 2011-12.

 

Schools are required to report 16 offenses that occur on campus or school property. Of those reported, dangerous or violent offenses account for 3 percent or 329. The most frequently reported acts involved illegal possession of controlled substances, weapons (excluding firearms or powerful explosives) or alcoholic beverages, and assault on school personnel. These four acts accounted for 96 percent or 10,155 of the total number of reported acts.

 

Seventy-eight percent or 1,961 schools reported five or less acts of crime and violence.

 

** Suspensions and Expulsions

Short-term suspensions (10 days or fewer) among students in all grades decreased by 4 percent in 2012-13. There were 247,919 short-term suspensions reported as opposed to the 258,197 reported in 2011-12. Of that total, 45 percent or 111,122 can be attributed to high school students, which is a 9.4 percent decrease from the 2011-12 total of 122,655. The average duration of a single short-term suspension was 2.74 days.

 

Long-term suspensions (11 days or more) declined among students in all grades in 2012-13, with 1,423 reported. This is an 11.6 percent decrease from the 1,609 reported in 2011-12. High school students received 982 or 69 percent of long-term suspensions, which was a 12.4 percent decrease from 2011-12. The average duration of a long-term suspension was 49.3 school days, down from 53.8 days per suspension in 2011-12.

 

** Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment declined by nearly 50 percent in 2012-13. Districts that employ corporal punishment reported 203 uses, a 49.8 percent decrease from the 404 reported in 2011-12. Of the 165 students reported as receiving corporal punishment, 136 received corporal punishment once, while 29 received it two or more times.

 

Corporal punishment was used at least once by nine school districts, down from 12 the previous year. Four districts reported using corporal punishment one time.

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/.