Eastin Releases School Safety Report

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin today released the state's fourth annual school safety report. It shows a continuing downward trend in property crimes. However, crimes against persons as well as reported drug and alcohol offenses show a one-year increase.

Eastin said, "We would like to see a continuing decline in all crime categories, but the rise in rates for two categories--crimes against persons and drug and alcohol offenses--reflects both improved reporting procedures at schools and a change in reporting criteria. While we can point to improved reporting and a change in state law expanding the types of incidents that must be reported as contributing factors to the rise, we are still concerned any time our data reflect increases.

"We will do everything we can to ensure that our schools provide the safest possible learning environment for our students. Our children need to be able to learn without distraction, harassment, or intimidation."

The crime rate for the fourth category, "other crimes," rose primarily due to a 135 percent rise in the number of reported bomb threats (548). The majority of these incidents were pranks, with 70 percent occurring after the incident at Columbine High School in Colorado late last spring.

Eastin continued, "The reality is that our schools continue to be safe havens for the vast majority of our students. School safety is based on close partnerships between parents, law enforcement, health and mental health providers, businesses, and students." California law requires school districts and county offices of education to compile statistics on school crime. The school districts self-report the data, which are reported ascrimes per 1,000 students. The latest document, California Safe Schools Assessment 1998-99, is a collaborative effort between the CDE, the Butte County Office of Education, and Duerr Evaluation Resources.

The CDE established a comprehensive training and technical assistance process to assure that data are being collected and reported consistently, accurately, and completely.

As part of that process, the staff conducted validation site visits at school districts, if necessary, to confirm that all reportable crimes were, in fact, reported. Most of the school districts revised their reporting process to capture additional incidents that may have been previously overlooked. For example, these visits, along with the other California Safe Schools Assessment (CSSA) training and technical assistance services available to all districts, resulted in a 12 percent improvement in the accuracy of the drug and alcohol data reported to the CSSA.

In addition to improved reporting, a change in the Penal Code added the possession of marijuana paraphernalia as a reportable incident effective July 1, 1998. These new criteria resulted in an increase in the total number of incidents reported to CSSA in the drug/alcohol offense category.

"Other factors contributing to the one-year rise in rates may include more focused attention and response to student behavioral problems and increased safety and security measures on California public school campuses," Eastin said. "Schools are also encouraging students to take a more active role related to school safety, which is key to identifying problems and developing long-term solutions."

Last year Eastin joined with Attorney General Bill Lockyer to form a statewide task force to look at ways to further combat crime in our schools. The task force will be releasing the results of its work in mid-March. Governor Gray Davis subsequently created a similar task force, in response to the tragedy at Columbine. That task force includes Eastin, Lockyer, and Frank Grimes, Executive Director of the Office of Criminal Justice Planning, and it is expected to report its results this April.

Other findings in the 1998-99 CSSA report include:

• Property crimes continue to be the most common crimes, representing 30 percent of all crimes reported. While the incident rate declined for property crimes, the dollarloss associated with such crimes increased to slightly over $25 million as a result of arson incidents throughout the state.

• The number of knives (6,168) confiscated on campuses increased for the second year in a row, up 5 percent from 1997-98, while the number of guns (637) continued to decline, down 1.5 percent from the previous year.

• Drug and alcohol offenses have the highest crime rate at high schools. The most common crime occurring at middle/junior high schools and at county-operated programs is battery. Property crimes are the most common crimes reported at elementary schools.

• As in previous years, the majority of known suspects (81percent) involved in school crime were male.

Complete statewide, county, and district crime data are available on the California Department of Education's (CDE) Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov.

	Related Links Schools Report Rise in Drug Crime, Violence (LA Times) Understanding School Violence

	Search LAEP advanced search