School Of Hard Knocks
As Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools looks for the second year in a row to cut campus security associates from a $1 billion-plus budget, a new state report shows crime and violence skyrocketing district wide.
It’s the seventh consecutive year that CMS has seen spikes in a majority of 17 types of reportable violent and criminal acts, tallying 1,545 such incidents during the 2009-10 school calendar, an increase of nearly 20 percent from the previous year.
Acts of violence saw an even more dramatic surge at CMS – up nearly 75 percent from the previous school year. Leading the rumble: assaults on school personnel, with the number jumping to 215 from the previous year’s high of 169.
Last year, CMS reported 40 sexual assaults; 35 assaults resulting in serious injury; 13 sexual offenses; and 12 assaults involving the use of a weapon.
CMS logged 543 reports of possession of a weapon (other than a firearm), up from the previous year’s 484. There were seven possession of a firearm cases reported, up from four the previous year; 517 reports of drug possession, up from 480; and 142 possession of alcohol, up from 95.
Other reported totals included five bomb threats, seven robberies, and nine cases of the burning of a school building.
CMS reported three expulsions.
To recap: 215 assaults on school personnel; 40 sexual assaults; 35 assaults resulting in serious injury; 543 weapons possession and 517 drug possession.
Three expulsions.
By contrast, the district logged 33,589 short-term suspensions, which are classified as up to 10 days, and 96 long-term suspensions, classified as 11 or more days.
Broken down by demographics, short- and long-term suspensions show: 17,510 short-term and 48 long-term suspensions for black males; 7,355 short-term and 21 long-term suspensions for black females; 2,781 short-term and seven long-term suspensions for while males; 847 short-term and less than five long-term suspensions for white females; 2,589 short-term and 11 long-term suspensions for Hispanic males; and 876 short-term and less then five long-term suspensions for Hispanic females.
In contrast to the crime and violence numbers reported by CMS, charter schools within Mecklenburg County – typically much smaller and varied in grade levels – tallied 20 reportable acts. Total.
Kennedy Charter (K-12) logged three reports of possession of alcohol and one drug possession; Lake Norman Charter (5-12) reported eight cases of drug possession; Queen’s Grant Charter (K-8) had one incident of drug possession; Socrates Academy (K-6) reported two cases of assault involving the use of a weapon and one incident of possession of a weapon (not a firearm); Community Charter (K-5) reported one assault on school personnel; Charlotte Secondary (5-8), one possession of a weapon (not a firearm); and KIPP Charlotte (5-8) reported one assault on school personnel and one possession of a weapon (not a firearm).
The following charter schools had no crime and violence incidents tallied in the state report: Sugar Creek (K-8), Crossroads (9-12), and Community School of Davidson (K-12).
The full report from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction is available here (click on 2009-10 Consolidated Data Report).
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