By: Andrew Coen and Karenlyn Barone
Lynbrook High School recorded a total of three violent or disruptive incidents during the two-year period while East Rockaway High School recorded 13 such incidents, according to the State Education Department report, released Dec. 2. However, state officials said that many parts of the report were inconsistent, since reporting methods were different from school-to-school. In essence, an incident in one school might not be considered an incident in another school. According to the state report, some examples of the inconsistencies in reporting occurred because some schools have zero-tolerance policies and thus consider every incident serious, while others only reported incidents involving police or when a student was suspended.
Even so, the report does highlights concerns that have been expressed by parents at school board meetings across the area recently. The report took into consideration student enrollment and listed incidents of weapons possession; weapons use; personal injury or intimidation; sexual offenses; use, possession or sale of drugs or alcohol; bomb threats, false alarms, arson or riots; theft; burglary and criminal mischief. The report concludes with a percentage of incidents per 100 students in each school.
In District 19, East Rockaway High School recorded one reported weapons possession, one reported weapons use incident, five reports of personal injury or intimidation, one incident in the category of bomb threats, false alarms, arson or riots and three reported incidents of use, possession or sale of drugs or alcohol. For a school with a total enrollment of 550 students, that translates to 2.40 incidents per 100 students.
"I have been in education for 35 years, in four different school districts and this is the safest place I've seen," said East Rockaway Superintendent of Schools Dr. Arnold Dodge. "Of course, when you put 500 adolescents together you must expect some aggressive behavior, but I believe the numbers are reasonable."
Dodge said that the school reports every incident and keeps a file, which allows them to track patterns regarding particular types of incidents and those individuals involved. Dodge said the district is diligent in intervening as soon as a pattern is evident.
"We are very aggressive about discipline in our schools," said Dodge. "We are pro-active - ahead of the curve.
When asked specifically about the weapons possession incident, Dodge explained that it involved a Swiss Army knife, that was not used in a threatening manner, but was duly reported, anyway.
State Department of Education spokesman Jonathan Burman said when next year's reports are done, to include the 2003-04 school year, the state hopes the statistics will contain fewer flaws. Some of the state's recommendations for improving the report include clarifying the "weapons possession" category to only include illegal weapons and not dangerous instruments and to limit the reporting of disruptive incidents to the most serious cases.
Lynbrook High School's three incidents all fell under the heading, "personal injury or intimidation."
"The report was favorably received by us," said Dr. Philip Cicero, Lynbrook superintendent of schools. "We were pleased to see we had one of the better scores across the county. I attribute it to the positive environment at the high school."
Lynbrook School District has in place an avenue for reporting incidents or suspicious activities with the webpage Reportit.com, which allows anyone in the district to file a report anonymously, affording them the confidence to give very specific details, with no fear of retaliation. The district administration and high school administration are notified at the same time and Cicero says they "immediately follow up on it."
The New York state report was done in response to the "Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act," which was passed by the State Legislature and signed by Gov. George Pataki on July 24, 2000, to address issues of school safety and violence prevention. As a result of the legislation, each school in the state is required to complete and maintain a record of each reportable violent or disruptive incident.
Some administrators took exception to the report complaining that it was less a measure of how much crime or violence exists, and more a measure of how much punishment is given.
For further information on the state report log onto www.nysed.gov.
Comments about this story? Acoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
