Jonetta Rose Barras: School safety in the District
By: Jonetta Rose Barras
Examiner Columnist
August 31, 2009
"It's stunning stuff," Lexington Institute's Don Soifer told me.
David B. Muhlhausen, Dan Lips and Soifer received data from MPD through a Freedom of Information Act request. Soifer said 2007-2008 was the most recent full year for which information was available. Not every matter in the incident reports led to charges being filed, but those initial accounts provide a portrait of the school environment.
Jennifer Calloway, spokeswoman for DCPS, hadn't seen the analysis and wouldn't comment. Last week, Chad Ferguson, deputy chief of youth engagement, told me safety concerns were among the top reasons students drop out of school. DCPS, he said, was focused on creating a "safer environment." (Coincidentally, a fight involving four males broke out Friday at Wilson Senior High School. Officials reported students in lockdown for one class period.)
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education, which is responsible for analyzing incident reports, appears to be out of touch or playing with the numbers. Chad Colby, agency spokesman, said there was a decrease in violent crimes reported in DCPS and public charter schools for the same time period "as reported by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department." He provided a chart showing 60 violent crimes in DCPS in 2006-2007 and 40 in 2007-2008.
The U.S Department of Education "Indicators of School Crime and Safety," released earlier this year, noted 11.3 percent of D.C. high school students told of " 'being threatened or injured with a weapon while on school property' the previous [2008] school year -- a rate well above the national average." (Anacostia Senior High, Ballou, Cardozo, Coolidge, Dunbar, Eastern, Roosevelt and Springarn had a total of 7,813 students during the 2007-2008, according to audited data used by Heritage/Lexington. Eleven percent comes out to 859 threatened or injured students.)
Safety at elementary schools was no better. There were 60 incidents reported at Moten Elementary; with a population of 275, the rate was 21.8 incidents per 100 students. At Webb, the rate of violence was 22 incidents per 100 students, according to Heritage/Lexington.
The federal government requires states to identify "persistently dangerous" schools. Students at such schools, or those who become victims of violence, must be allowed to transfer.
OSSE's Colby said the city slaps that label on a school "if the annual number of officially reported violent crimes against students on the school grounds, during school operating hours, over a period of two consecutive years is equal to or greater than five for schools with enrollment of 500 students or less, or 1 percent of the school's official membership for schools with enrollments of 501 students or more."
Based on MPD data and those criteria, I was certain there were such schools. But, Colby said, "OSSE has not found any persistently dangerous schools."
Anyone buying bridges today?
Jonetta Rose Barras, host of WPFW's "D.C. Politics With Jonetta," can be reached at rosebook1@aol.com.
