Pa. schools have not gotten safer, state says

Pennsylvania's schoolchildren have improved in academics the last five years, but their classrooms are no safer, state education officials said yesterday.

In total, about 82,000 incidents were reported statewide in the 2008-09 school year - about the same as five years ago, according to the state Department of Education.

Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak said that number needs to go down.

"Clearly, more must be done to change the climate of our schools, and there is room for improvement even within our schools that most students, parents, and teachers would consider safe schools," he said.

Incidents range from taking a gun to school or sexual assault to fighting or possession of tobacco.

Though public school enrollment in 2008-09 fell by almost 56,000 statewide from 2007-08, incidents rose slightly, from 81,111 to 82,003. Aggravated assaults against students and staff were up, as were disorderly conduct and bullying. Bomb threats, vandalism, and robbery were down.

Despite some progress, "we are nevertheless overall failing" on safety, said Joseph Torsella, chairman of the state Board of Education.

At a Harrisburg news conference, Zahorchak and Torsella announced steps to shore up school safety. There will be a push for school districts to better report violence and improve tools for monitoring, they said.

The state board, Torsella said, will soon define school-climate requirements and make them formal expectations of all districts, much like the board's academic standards.

Torsella, State Senate Education Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola (R., Dauphin), and State House Education Chairman James Roebuck (D., Phila.) also spoke in favor of legislation that would tighten school-safety reporting requirements.

Senate Bill 56, which was passed and awaits action by the House, calls for closer collaboration between police and school districts. It would also hold school administrators responsible for reporting violence accurately, with possible criminal consequences for those who do not.

"We have a duty to make all schools in Pennsylvania safer," Piccola said.

Roebuck said he hoped the bill could get enough support to move out of committee.

Zahorchak also announced that a number of Philadelphia schools - whose reported serious incidents dropped last year - would have on-site safety reviews conducted by an independent agency.

Philadelphia had previously reported its violence numbers for the last school year.

Overall, reported violence in city schools fell 15 percent, with declines in most major categories as well. Reported violence is also down this school year, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said.

Still, no school outside Philadelphia landed on the "persistently dangerous" list under the federal No Child Left Behind law. To make the list, a school must have a certain number of serious incidents, such as assaults, in the most recent school year and in one of the previous two years. The ratio between reported violence and enrollment determines the designation.

Some city schools, including the 25 persistently dangerous ones, will have visits followed by recommendations on improving safety.

Ackerman said she welcomed the visits, which will also happen at selected "empowerment" schools, the lowest-performing schools in the district.

"I'm not afraid of the review," she said. "I think the review might be really helpful."

Ackerman said she hoped the state push - and new legislation - would lead to better reporting statewide.

"I was a little surprised when I got to town to learn that the only school district in Pennsylvania that had persistently dangerous schools was Philadelphia," she said.

Violence reporting has typically been uneven statewide. Philadelphia improved its reporting methods three years ago, but other districts have been slower to change.

A loophole in state law requires districts to report violence but does not give the Department of Education the power to penalize those that underreport or misreport.

Ackerman also reiterated her belief that administrators should be allowed to make judgment calls in reporting.

"We have to be careful not to criminalize every student, every incident," she said.

She said she had run into a young boy this week who was attending a disciplinary hearing after he pushed away the hand of a teacher trying to hurry him along. Police were called, and the boy was sent into the disciplinary system, Ackerman said.

"I don't call that a serious incident enough to be in a hearing that might result in an expulsion," she said. "This was not an assault, in my picture."

She said principals and not just police should be able to exercise judgment in gray areas such as this.

Locally, district violence numbers varied.

In Bucks County, where enrollment was down slightly, incidents and arrests were down. There was little change in most categories. The number of threats against school officials and students was down about 35 percent.

In Chester County, where enrollment held steady, incidents were up by a handful, but arrests were down. Drug-related incidents were up slightly.

In Delaware County, with enrollment down slightly, incidents were up more than 50 percent and arrests up about 61 percent. There were sizable increases in simple assaults on students and staff, and in threats to students and staff.

In Montgomery County, where enrollment fell slightly, incidents were up about 16 percent while arrests were down slightly. Simple assaults on students were up 48 percent, and the number of students found in possession of drugs was up about 65 percent.

To view violence numbers by state, district, and school, go to www.safeschools.

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