Thursday, October 1, 2026
In February 2026, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli stated in a report, that bullying and drug-related incidents are on the rise in schools across the state. However, representatives of Freeport Public Schools maintain that the trend is not indicative of Freeport student behavior, and that district schools have seen low rates of bullying and drug-related incidents in recent years.
DiNapoli’s report hinged on data collected from the New York State Education Department’s School Safety and Educational Climate report over the past seven years. During that span, while the number of bullying and drug-related incidents increase, violent and disruptive incidents have fortunately remained close to zero.
“Reliable public data about school safety is critical and informs where we need to address problems and identify solutions,” DiNapoli said. “It’s disturbing to see the rise in bullying and drug-related incidents. We need to do everything we can to make sure students and teachers feel safe.”
Ron Edelson, co-president of ZE Creative Communications and an approved spokesperson for Freeport Public Schools, stated that despite statewide trends, Freeport schools have maintained relatively low incident report rates when compared with over 600 other New York school districts.
“Freeport has one of the lowest numbers across all categories in the state and is considered among those districts that have lower incidence rates of these categories than the state averages,” Edelson told the Herald.
School Safety and Educational Climate data back up this assertion. Data from the 2023-2024 school year, the most recent data that is completed, indicates that Freeport Public Schools have had 17 reported incidents of bullying or cyber bullying, as defined by The Dignity for All Students Act, or simply The Dignity Act, which became New York State law in 2012.
Freeport Public Schools, also known as the Freeport Union Free School District, had over 6,000 students enrolled during this school year, which is nearly three times the average enrollment of all New York school districts in the data set. The Roosevelt Union Free School District had over 3,000 students.
Both Freeport and Roosevelt met the near-zero statewide averages for homicide, sexual assault, bomb threats, alcohol usage and false alarms. Freeport reported two weapons possession incidents, while Roosevelt reported one.
Roosevelt also had half as many reported bullying incidents, seven, as Freeport, 14. Freeport had three cyber bullying incidents to Roosevelt’s two.
The most significant difference is in drug usage, possession or sales, which Freeport had ten while Roosevelt reported none.
Again, both districts seem to have below average statewide rates for violent, bullying or drug related behavior, when accounting for the Freeport and Roosevelt school districts having significantly more students than the average New York school district.
