By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
WEST AMWELL — A new report on school violence from South Hunterdon Regional High School shows the incidence of violent acts more than doubled over the previous year, but an administrator says the increase has more to do with how the incidents were tallied than a real increase in violence.
The school logged 18 incidents of violence in 2007-08, compared to seven in 2006-07.
The latest incident, a bomb threat scrawled on a bathroom wall Oct. 13, was not included in the latest report. Five dogs trained to detect explosives scoured the school, but did not find anything.
The violence category is broken down into subcategories, one of which is fighting. In 2007-08, there were five fights, but each participant was logged separately, for a total of 10 incidents. This differs from previous years when each fight was counted as a single incident, Assistant Principal Michael Godown said.
Another reason for the increase this year is the determination of the school to document each report of bullying or harassment, according to Mr. Godown. The school has logged five incidents of harassment, intimidation, bullying or threats.
”Our schoolwide approach with harassment and threats is we log that in as a true threat,” he said. “In the past, I’m not exactly sure it was done that way.”
He added, “I think it is a good report. We track all of the incidents that are reported to us.”
The latest report also logs one act of vandalism to a school bus compared to five acts of vandalism at the school in 2006-07.
The incidence of reported substance abuse has decreased from 15 in 2006-07 to three in 2007-08. Only two incidents concerned illegal substances.
The other involved an over-the-counter product prohibited on school grounds, according to Mr. Godown.
Schools file a violence and vandalism report each year with the state. Next year, the bomb threat that occurred last week will be reported in the vandalism category.
Because of the incident, the school will keep student bathrooms locked until 8 a.m. If a student needs to use the bathroom after getting off the bus at 7:40 a.m., he must obtain a key from a custodian, the principal, the assistant principal or a teacher.
The school previously required students leaving the classroom for any reason to sign out. That practice will continue. In addition, the school now has increased routine bathroom checks, according to Mr. Godown.
”We need to make sure the kids understand the severity behind this,” he said. “It is not, and will not, be tolerated.”

