Crime, suspensions, expulsions down in NC schools, dropouts up slightly
North Carolina public schools saw a drop in crime, suspensions and expulsions last school year, but a slight increase in students who dropped out, according to data released Thursday by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
Posted — UpdatedThe number of reportable crimes by high school students decreased by 231 from 2015-16 to 2016-17, a 4.0% decrease. The high school reportable crime rate decreased 4.9%. There was an overall decrease in reportable crimes for all grades of 186, a decrease of 1.9%. The overall crime rate decrease was 2.1%. The number of reportable crimes in grades K-13 decreased by 1.9% in 2016-17, and the rate decreased by 2.1%.
There were 83,300 grades 9-13 short-term suspensions reported statewide in 2016-17, a decrease of 5.9% from the 2015-16 total of 88,559.
The number of long-term suspensions (11 or more days) for all students declined 32.9% from 1,036 in 2015-16 to 695 in 2016-17. Average school days per suspension decreased from 76.6 to 73.9 school days. High school students received 458 long-term suspensions, a 34.8% decrease from 2015-16.
The number of expulsions decreased 33.3% from 27 in 2015-16 to 18 in 2016-17. High school students received 17 of the 18 expulsions.
High schools in North Carolina reported 11,097 dropouts in 2016-17. The grade 9-13 dropout rate in 2016-17 was 2.31%, up from the 2.29% reported for 2015-16. The increase in the dropout rate was 0.9%.
- Possession of controlled substance 4,289
- Possession of a weapon, excluding firearms 2,745
- Assault on school personnel, no serious injury 1,431
- Possession of alcoholic beverage 882
- Sexual assault (no rape or sexual offense) 107
- Possession of a firearm or powerful explosive 105
- Bomb threat 89
- Assault resulting in serious injury 65
- Assault involving use of a weapon 48
- Sexual offense 47
The following categories experienced increases from 2015-16 to 2016-17 (numerical increase and percent increase in parentheses):
- Assault on school personnel (102, 7.7%)
- Assault resulting in serious injury (36, 124.1%)
- Sexual offense (31, 193.8%)
- Sexual assault (25, 30.5%)
- Bomb threat (20, 29.0%)
- Assault involving use of a weapon (9, 23.1%)
- Burning of a school building (7, 87.5%)
- Rape (1, 100%)
- Taking indecent liberties with a minor (1)
The numbers of the crimes below decreased from 2015-16 to 2016-17 (numerical decrease and percent decrease in parentheses):
- Possession of controlled substance in violation of law (350, 7.5%)
- Possession of an alcoholic beverage (52, 5.6%)
- Possession of a firearm (13, 11.0%)
- Death by other than natural causes (1, 100%)
- Robbery with a dangerous weapon (1, 11.1%)
- Possession of a weapon excluding firearms and powerful explosives (1, 0.04%)
The State Board of Education plans to review the draft report at its meeting next Wednesday.
Related Topics
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.