Report: 68 acts of violence, other offenses in schools

Report: 68 acts of violence,
other offenses in schools

EAST BRUNSWICK — School officials say they have done a solid job in limiting the amount of violence and vandalism that occurs in its schools.

According to Superintendent of Schools Jamie P. Savedoff, who gave a presentation at the Aug. 15 Board of Education meeting, the district has fewer problems in those areas than many other districts.

"For a district our size — we had 8,530 students last year — what it tells me is that we have a very well-behaved student body, because the number of incidents we have is really low," he told the Sentinel.

According to statistics from the annual district report of violence and vandalism, during the 2000-01 school year, the district had 37 reported incidents of violence, 13 reported cases of vandalism and 16 reported cases of substance abuse. As for weapons, the district’s report stated there were two reported cases.

Regarding vandalism, the report stated there were 10 reported cases that resulted in a cost to the district. The total cost of the damage was $3,611.

The police were notified of 41 of 68 reported acts of violence, vandalism, substance abuse and weapons offenses. However, in 28 of those cases, no complaints were filed. The other 13 cases did result in complaints, although the report did not state what the outcomes of the criminal charges were. No students were expelled for the incidents, and no one was removed from regular classes and placed in alternative programs, according to the report.

"I’m very proud of our students and staff," Savedoff said. "We must be doing something right because our kids are not involved in the kinds of things you see [in the news] — assaults, drugs and large dollar amounts of vandalism. We’re very low in the number of incidents and amount of dollars spent on vandalism."

The district uses both in-school and out-of-school suspensions as disciplinary measures, and the report indicated that there were 62 out-of-school suspensions and one in-school suspension. Other means of discipline were used for two other cases.

As for victims of the offenses, 16 were traditional education students, nine were students with disabilities and one was a student from another district. One other was a non-student, and one was a member of school personnel.

Savedoff said the report means the district compares favorably with other districts.

"I’ve been a superintendent for other districts, so I have a pretty good idea of what happens," he said.

— Vincent Todaro