School Violence Up In Rowan
Kannapolis Follows State Trend Of Decrease In Acts Of Violence

BY SUSAN DICKERSON
SALISBURY POST

Rowan-Salisbury Schools did not follow a statewide trend of fewer acts of violence in the 1997-98 school year.

Kannapolis, on the other hand, reported 12 fewer violent acts.

Across the state, school violence during the 1997-1998 school year decreased by 7.35 percent, or by 598 incidents. A recent report said that acts of violence dropped from 8,141 incidents in 1996-1997 to 7,543 in 1997-1998.

In Rowan-Salisbury, a school system with around 20,000 students, the numbers went up from 87 to 98 incidents. Kannapolis City Schools, a school system with 3,904 students, saw incidents drop from 44 to 32.

The numbers ''reflect a focused attention by our staff and by the Board of Education to maintain a safe and orderly environment for our students,'' said Rowan-Salisbury Superintendent Dr. Joe McCann.

''The numbers also underline our focused attempt on working with students in order to maintain an appropriate learning environment.''

Kannapolis Superintendent Dr. Ed Tyson said, ''We made a concentrated effort to be sure that our schools were safe and orderly. It's not a new priority, but we're just trying to do a better job at it. The more you do that, establish a climate or an atmosphere where children expect and know that adults expect them to behave, that makes a huge difference.''

Colby Cochran, Rowan-Salisbury's director of assessment and accountability, said two things probably affected Rowan's increase.

As the message that students can't bring weapons or controlled substances or commit acts of violence, ''the message begins to be internalized among parents and students that you simply cannot do that at school,'' he said.

Along with more stringent enforcement, Cochran said the General Assembly's new Safe Schools Act helped schools deal with student violence, too.

''If more than anything else, it's a focus on the front burner,'' he said. ''It's helped call attention to it. Now when you ask what school goals are, it's always a safe and orderly environment. And now the law is actually a law where some of these things have to be reported.''

This is the first time in the past five years that the state has seen this large a decrease in school violence.

In the 1993-1994 school year, schools reported 6,683 violent student acts. That figure increased the next school year to 8,100, where the numbers remained for the next two years until this year when they dropped beneath the 8,000 mark.

The incidents included in the state report come from the school systems and include such infractions as: possession of illegal substances; assault on school employees and assault/serious injury; possession of a firearm or other weapons; robbery and armed robbery; rape, sexual assault, taking indecent liberties and other sexual offenses; assault with a weapon and armed robbery; and kidnapping.

Across the state, schools administrators reported:

Fewer students caught with illegal substances but more incidents with weapons.

A decrease in assaults on school employees as well as general assaults and serious injuries.

Robberies, sexual offenses and sexual assaults decreased as well as assaults with weapons. Armed robberies dropped from six in 1996-1997 to four in 1997-1998. Kidnapping increased, however, from none in 1996-1997 to six in 1997-1998.

In the Rowan-Salisbury Schools:

Possession of controlled substances was reported most frequently - 51 violations.

Assaults on school personnel ranked a far second, with 17 incidents, along with students bringing weapons to school, with 16 incidents.

The other 14 incidents included seven assaults resulting in serious injuries, three firearm possessions, two sexual offenses, one assault involving a weapon and one sexual assault.

The numbers haven't changed too much across the years in violent acts, McCann said, but the rules have change about interpreting the numbers and how they're reported by each school.

''The important point of this effort is to keep the safety and security of staff and students foremost in our minds, and hopefully it continues to be a focus of our efforts,'' McCann said.

''... I expect to see a focus on safe and secure environments to be one of the primary issues in the coming years, and I think it will grow in its importance.''

Kannapolis City Schools reported:

14 incidents of possession of controlled substances.

14 incidents of possession of weapons.

Four incidents of assaults on school personnel.

Tyson said individual school administrators have vigilantly monitored school safety policies, and any bad behavior has consequences.

''There's a new level of awareness in the country,'' Tyson said. ''As a society, people are realizing that we really have to do something about this violence thing. We'll never eliminate all of it, but we certainly ought to try. ... It's important that students realize that no matter how violent your world will be outside, we aren't going to tolerate it here. We want our schools to be known as places that our children can come and be safe.''