Schools
among state's safest
Hunterdon ranks first, Warren
third
Sunday, May 08, 2005 • By LINDA LISANTI • The
Express-Times
Hunterdon and Warren County schools
continue to fare among the safest in the state when it comes
to crime in the classroom.
Hunterdon's 30 school districts had the
fewest incidents of violence, vandalism, weapons and
substance abuse in the state last year, according to the
annual figures released by the New Jersey Department of
Education this week.
Warren County's 24 school districts
ranked third just behind Salem County, but saw its incidents
jump from 286 in 2002-03 to 326 in 2003-04, a nearly 14
percent increase.
Hunterdon schools experienced a roughly 2
percent drop in incidents from 208 to 203.
Statewide, the total number of incidents
reported last year was down by 9 percent, with more than
two-thirds of New Jersey's schools reporting five or fewer
incidents and one in three schools reporting none at
all.
Eight schools in Warren and seven in
Hunterdon reported zero incidents.
Instances of violence across New Jersey
declined by 5 percent while the number of incidents
involving weapons increased by 9 percent. The number of
incidents of vandalism and substance abuse remained
relatively unchanged, according to the state.
In Warren, incidents of violence
increased by 28 percent and substance abuse by 45 percent
while weapons instances decreased by 53 percent and
vandalism by 32 percent.
In Hunterdon, incidents of violence
increased by 6 percent and weapons by 50 percent, while
substance abuse instances decreased by 9 percent and
vandalism by 19 percent.
Though the overall number of incidents
reported dropped in Hunterdon, the majority of districts --
13 -- reported more incidents, while eight reported less and
nine the same.
Alexandria Township went from no
incidents in 2002-03 to nine last year, eight of which were
reported under the violence category.
Superintendent Wendy Schadt said the rise
can be attributed to the district's new reporting of
inappropriate student comments as threats.
"Most schools don't report that, but we
decided to be honest," Schadt said, adding that sometimes
figures such as these are a fair assessment and other times
are not.
"This case it's not," she
added.
District officials decided to crack down
on children making those types of comments, whether joking
or not, and set a tone of decency throughout the school,
Schadt said.
"We felt as though it was time that the
students understood there were things that were appropriate
and not appropriate," she said. "This school is a
wonderfully safe and enjoyable place to work and go to
school in."
Among Warren schools, 12 districts
reported more incidents than the previous year, six reported
less and six the same number.
Phillipsburg, the county's largest
district, saw the greatest decrease from 116 to 99
incidents.
Superintendent Gordon Pethick said the
district has always been conservative in discipline and over
the last several years, has expelled students for poor
behavior.
"We take a very aggressive stance on
misconduct in our schools," he said.
But Pethick was cautious about buying in
too much to the drop, saying it takes more than one year to
see an improvement trend.
"Let's hope that's what we have here," he
said.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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