Commissioner’s Annual Report to the ...

Commissioner's Annual Report to the Education Committees of the Senate and General Assembly on Violence, Vandalism and Substance Abuse in New Jersey Public Schools

July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017

Based on District-Reported Data in the Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (EVVRS)

and the Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Investigations, Trainings and Programs System (HIB-ITP)

New Jersey Department of Education 100 River View Plaza, P.O. Box 500

Trenton, NJ 08625-0500

State Board of Education Arcelio Aponte......................................................................................Middlesex President Andrew J. Mulvihill....................................................................................Sussex Vice President Mary Beth Berry...................................................................................Hunterdon Elaine Bobrove.........................................................................................Camden Fatimah Burnam-Watkins.............................................................................Union Ronald K. Butcher................................................................................Gloucester Jack Fornaro...........................................................................................Warren Mary Elizabeth Gazi................................................................................Somerset Kathy A. Goldenberg.............................................................................Burlington Nedd James Johnson...................................................................................Salem Ernest P. Lepore......................................................................................Hudson Joseph Ricca, Jr. .......................................................................................Morris Sylvia Sylvia-Cioffi...............................................................................Monmouth

Dr. Lamont Repollet Secretary

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Table of Contents State Board of Education ............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 3 Key Findings.................................................................................................................................. 4 Overall Total and Totals by EVVRS Incident Categories .............................................................. 4 Trends in Types of Incidents Reported to EVVRS......................................................................... 5 Characteristics of EVVRS Incidents............................................................................................... 9 Disciplinary Action Taken and Program Provided (EVVRS) ...................................................... 12 Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying ? Investigations, Trainings and Programs (HIB-ITP) .. 14 Programmatic Response............................................................................................................. 26 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 26 Department's Response ................................................................................................................ 27 Department's Objectives for the 2017-18 school year ................................................................. 30 Appendix A: Public School Safety Law .................................................................................... 32 Appendix B: EVVRS Incident Definitions ? 2016-17 .............................................................. 34 Appendix C: Data Collection Forms ......................................................................................... 39 Appendix D: District Totals by County .................................................................................... 49

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Introduction This report presents information provided by New Jersey public schools for the 2016-17 school year on incidents of violence; vandalism; weapon offenses; substance offenses; and harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB). The information is presented annually by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to the Governor and Legislature to fulfill the requirements of the Public School Safety Law (N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 through 48), as amended by P.L. 2010, c.122 (see Appendix A). School districts, including charter schools and Renaissance School Projects, are required to report in the Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (EVVRS) incidents that occur on school grounds and meet the criteria of the EVVRS incident definitions (see Appendix B). In addition, school districts must report incidents of HIB that occur off school grounds, including those involving electronic communications. Along with incident details captured in the EVVRS, the Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying ? Investigations, Trainings, and Programs (HIB-ITP) system collects information from districts on the number of HIB investigations, HIB affirmed incidents (i.e., found to be HIB by the district board of education (BOE)1), as well as any HIB trainings conducted and programs implemented to reduce HIB incidents over the course of the school year. Data collection forms for the EVVRS and HIB-ITP can be found in Appendix C. In addition to state-level results presented in this report, counts of incidents by district are reported in Appendix D. Summary data for each district and school from the 2003-04 school year to the 2015-16 school year are available online. The data in this report represents the incidents from the 2016-17 school year based on each district's data verified by August 11, 2017. All districts verified their data in the EVVRS and HIB-ITP system for the 2016-17 school year. This report is divided into two main sections: "Key Findings" and "Programmatic Response." In the "Key Findings" section, the NJDOE presents incident counts reported by schools by the main

1 Throughout the report, "district board of education" refers to the governing authority for all public school districts, charter schools, and Renaissance School Projects, unless otherwise indicated.

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categories of violence, vandalism, weapon offenses, substance offenses, and HIB. Other incident characteristics, such as location and gang-related offenses, are also reported in this section. In addition, a review of disciplinary action and details specific to HIB investigations, incidents, trainings, and programs, are also included. In the "Programmatic Response" section, NJDOE responses and objectives are provided in relation to developing and maintaining safe and supportive schools in New Jersey. While this report transparently communicates the changes in self-reported incidents from yearto-year, the report does not identify the reasons for the changes. Districts are encouraged to review their incidents and year-to-year changes in relation to the state results and consider whether proactive steps are needed to improve the school climate and student safety.

Key Findings Overall Total and Totals by EVVRS Incident Categories In 2016-17, schools reported 19,795 incidents to the NJDOE through the EVVRS (See Figure 1). The numbers of reported EVVRS incidents have increased during the past two school years. County and district totals for 2016-17 can be found in Appendix D. Figure 1. Total EVVRS Incidents

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Figure 2 shows that incidents are most commonly reported in the categories of violence and HIB, with violence representing 42 percent of the total incidents and HIB representing 32 percent of the total incidents in 2016-17, similar to last year. The numbers of violence incidents, HIB incidents, and substance offenses have increased since 2014-15, while the number of vandalism incidents and weapons offenses have been relatively stable. Figure 2. Total Incidents for Major Reporting Categories

Trends in Types of Incidents Reported to EVVRS Figure 3 illustrates the number of offenses reported in the five major reporting categories over the last three years. The numbers in this figure are duplicated, meaning that a single incident may be counted more than once on this chart because it involved multiple types of offenses. For example, if a single incident occurred where one student assaulted another with a knife, it is counted as both an assault in the violence category and as other weapon in the weapons category.

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Figure 3. Incidents by Type 6

Violence Fights, assaults, and threats remain the most commonly reported incident types in the category of violent incidents. The number of reports of fights and assaults has increased over the past two years, while threats saw a one-year decrease after increasing from the prior year. The number of robbery/extortion incidents and criminal threats were relatively stable compared to last year, while the number of sex offenses increased.

Vandalism Theft and damage to property are the most commonly reported types of vandalism. Theft has decreased since 2014-15, while damage to property has increased slightly. Other types of vandalism are reported infrequently, and changes over the three-year period are difficult to describe as noteworthy increases or decreases.

Weapons Handgun or rifle incidents in schools are rare, but did increase from last year's report of 2 handgun incidents. Figure 4 shows that there were 10 handgun incidents in 2016-17, and no rifle incidents. Air guns (including BB guns and pellet guns) and imitation guns are not common but were reported on school grounds more frequently than handguns or rifles. There were 71 incidents with air guns in schools in 2016-17 compared to 99 in 2015-16, and 26 incidents with imitation guns in 2016-17 compared to 30 from 2015-16.

Weapons include any instrument readily capable of lethal use or inflicting bodily injury. Among the 1,093 weapons incidents in the 2015-16 school year, the most commonly reported weapons were knives or blades, consistent with the past three years (see Figure 4). The number of knife/blade incidents increased from 671 in 2015-16 to 785 in 2016-17.

Substance Offenses There were increased reports of substance use, possession, or distribution in the past three years on school grounds, from 2,982 cases in 2014-15 to 3,010 cases in 2015-16 up to 3,157 in 2016-17 (see Figure 5). Seventy-eight percent of substance cases in 2016-17 involved marijuana on school grounds, with 2,465 incidents, an increase of 9% compared to last year's reports of 2,270 incidents. Alcohol is the substance with the next highest frequency on school grounds, with 420 cases representing 13 percent of the total substance abuse incidents, a slight decrease from the 468 cases in 2015-16. Most other substance types were reported in 2 percent or fewer

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