Targeting student misdeeds

There has been one shooting in a Utah school: six years ago, when a student held classmates hostage in Davis County. Nobody was hurt.

But a look at a new state report of school violence, weapons possession incidents and other mischief shows weapons are carried, and confiscated, on Utah's campuses.

Last school year, school officials reported 580 weapons possessions in Utah's some 800 schools. That's actually down from the 672 reported the year before, according to the State Office of Education's annual "Incidents of Prohibited Behavior in Schools or School-Related Activities" report.

Deseret Morning News graphic Student behavior problems Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Last year, school officials reported 66 arsons — up from 49 the year before — and 92 aggravated assaults, which remained stagnant from the 2001-2002 school year.

But drug and alcohol abuse incidents are on the decline, the report shows. In 2001-2002, 1,762 incidents were reported. Last year, the number dropped 23 percent, to 1,357. Tobacco also is down from 777 violations to 640, or a 17 percent decline.

Utah educates 487,000 public school children.

The information could be eye-opening to parents.

"Cumulative like that, the numbers look high," said Susan Chilton, Jordan District coordinator of programs for at-risk students.

"(But) I think schools are the safest places for kids to be. It's not a bad thing we've found these violations; it's a good thing."

Tracking trends

School districts for nearly a decade have tracked student misdeeds, from gang activity to terroristic threats and even homicide, as part of federal Safe Schools Act grants. They report information online to the Research Institute for Safe and Effective Programs at Utah State University, which contracts with the State Office of Education.

The data collection now is required by No Child Left Behind, which aims to pinpoint "persistently dangerous schools" as part of reform and student achievement efforts.

The idea is to publicly highlight things schools do right, and wrong, and inspire them to improve. Districts in several states announce behavior problems alongside test scores and other information in report cards mailed or otherwise made available to parents, according to an Education Week survey.

Utah is less forthcoming. Its report is nestled in an inch-thick printed version of the Annual Report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, also published online (www.usoe.k12.ut.us/data/ar/2003/Delstd03.htm).

Verne Larsen, state liaison for federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and No Child Left Behind programs, can't explain the practice.