Pubdate: Sat, 09 Dec 2006 Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC) Copyright: 2006 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc. Contact: http://www.journalnow.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504 Author: Danielle Deaver Note: The Journal does not publish LTEs from writers outside its circulation area CRIME ON SCHOOL CAMPUSES ROSE DURING 2005-06 Most Incidents Involved Drugs or Alcohol and Few Were Violent, Report From State Says Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools had an increase in crime in 2005-06, though few involved violence, according to a report from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. There were 415 acts of crime or violence on the school system's campuses last year, or about 8.4 acts for every 1,000 students, according to data released Thursday by the state. In 2004-05, there were 6.1 acts for every 1,000 students, although school officials said that the data used may have been unreliable. About 68 percent of the incidents involved possession of drugs or alcohol. There were 92 cases that involved possession of a weapon other than firearms, and 24 incidents of assault on school personnel. There were also a few cases of bomb threats, assaults on students and possession of firearms. No crimes were reported in 35 of the school system's 41 elementary schools and in only one of the 18 middle schools. The school system's threshold for reporting acts of crime or violence is lower than that of the general public. For example, if a student takes a pocketknife to school, he or she is listed as being in possession of a weapon, which may not lead to a charge in the criminal-courts system. Crime incidents have grown steadily for five years, and school officials said they are not sure why. "Potentially, more offenses are being committed. That certainly is a possibility," said Drew Davis, a school attorney. "Two, I think we have done a better job addressing issues that occur at school. And NCWISE (the computer system) is far advanced ... and allows us to put incidents in distinct categories," Superintendent Don Martin said that the school system's drug-enforcement program, which includes random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities and sports, might help explain the high numbers. "If you're aggressively catching people, your numbers are up," Martin said. "I'm not saying that's why ours are up, but ... that's why those numbers are high every year. If we were low, I'd be concerned were we being aggressive enough." High-school principals make an effort to go out and look for drugs on campuses, said Paul Puryear, the assistant superintendent for high schools. "Our board has made possession and selling of drugs a top priority. They really frown on that, and principals know that," Puryear said. Last year, teachers at two schools were accused of having improper sexual relationships with students. Neither case appears in the state's report. One of the cases, which involved a teacher at East Forsyth High who agreed to surrender her teaching license after an investigation by the school system, was not in the report, partly because the offenses did not occur on school grounds, Davis said. The other case - that of Robert William Watson Jr., a math teacher at Clemmons Middle School who was accused of sex acts with students - - is not included in the report for two reasons, Davis said: The case has yet to go to trial, and school officials did not find out about the allegations until after the June 30 deadline for submitting data. Davis said that he and Doug Punger, the school attorney, have asked the state how to amend the report should Watson be found guilty. They also want to know whether they should include teachers who were deemed guilty by the school system but not the courts, Davis said. School Violence Violence grew in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools last year. Acts of violence and crime include everything from possession of drugs and alcohol to assault and other violent offenses. Year Acts Of Violence And Crime Acts Per 1,000 Students 2005-06 415 8.4 2004-05 295 6.1 2003-04 311 6.6 2002-03 251 5.4 2001-02 209 4.6 - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine