Legislative Update

Judge Orders DOE to Revise Adminstrator Contract Regulations

For Board Member of Year, A Tradition of Service

Governor Appoints NJSBA Counsel to School Employees' Health Benefits Commission

Networking Opportunities at Workshop

Workshop Room Rate Drop

Schools Harness the Sun

NJSBA Meets with Legislators

Report Shows Continued Trend Toward Safe Schools

New Jersey’s Teachers are Highly Qualified

NJSBA At Your Service: Legislative Day

NJSBA Board of Directors, Audit Committee to Meet

Calendar

Click here for a pdf version of this issue of School Board Notes

A state report released Monday found the number of incidents of violence, vandalism and substance abuse in New Jersey schools declined slightly from the previous report, reflecting a continued decline over the years.

Seventy percent of schools reported five or fewer incidents of violence, vandalism and substance abuse—and 37 percent reported no incidents at all—according to the New Jersey Department of Education’s report, required to be presented to the Legislature each year.

The total number of incidents of violence, vandalism and substance abuse in the public schools declined by about 1 percent between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, the latest year provided in the report.

While some areas of reporting have fluctuated over the years, the report demonstrates that schools are seeing an overall downward trend in drugs and violence—especially in the area of school violence. From 2000-2001 to 2006-2007, the report found marked decreases in incidents of fights (down by 28 percent), thefts (decreasing by 18 percent), and bomb threats (a 58 percent decrease).

The report also provides school administrators a peek into trends they might want to be aware of. For instance, while marijuana use has declined slightly and alcohol use has remained largely unchanged since 2000-2001, the report found an uptick in students’ use of prescription drugs and narcotics. The number of harassment/bullying/intimidation cases, which schools began reporting in 2003-2004, has increased considerably—28 percent—in part due to schools becoming more responsive to reporting such offenses.

Police were notified in 40 percent of the incidents. The most common form of school discipline was short-term suspension of 10 or fewer days (93 percent); followed by long-term suspension (2 percent); with the remainder being detention or other disciplines.