Public schools in North Carolina reported a significant reduction in the number of crimes, suspensions and expulsions during the 2020-21 academic year, as the COVID-19 health crisis forced most districts to offer a mix of remote and in-person learning.
The Department of Public Instruction shared the findings of the state’s 2020-21 Consolidated Data Report during the State Board of Education’s business meeting last week.
A subset of that data, the report on School Crime and Violence, showed that “reportable crimes” in 2020-2021 experienced a sharp drop of 78.6% from the previous school year. Reportable crimes are serious offenses such as assault, homicide and rape that school districts are required to report.
Here is a “by the numbers” snapshot of what the Consolidated Report shows for the year 2020-2021:
1,535 – Number of reportable crimes across the state during the 2020-2021 school year – the crime rate was 1.04 crimes per 1,000 students
7,158 (for a rate of 4.49 per 1,000 students) – The number in 2019-2020
19,482 – Number of statewide short-term suspensions that occurred as a result of criminal or non-criminal acts (unacceptable behaviors)
152,863 – The number in 2019-2020
18,290 (94%) — Number and percentage of the short-term suspensions in 2020-2021 that stemmed from incidents involving unacceptable behaviors (non-criminal acts)
82 — Number of long-term suspensions reported
405 – The number in 2019-2020
6 – Number of expulsions reported
21 – The number in 2019-2020
0 – Number of school districts that reported the use of corporal punishment (this is the third school year in a row zero uses of corporal punishment were reported)
2 (for a total of 60 incidents) – The number that so reported in 2017-2018
314 – Number of students statewide placed in Alternative Learning Programs and Schools instead of being given long-term suspensions
2,104 – The number in 2019-2020
18,217 – Number of in-school suspensions of a half-day or more assigned to 13,574 students
182,133 – The number in 2019-2020
5,765 – Number of enrollments into Alternative Learning Programs and Schools (all reasons)
10,757 – The number in 2019-2020
1.94 – Dropout rate per 100 high school students
1.53 – Dropout rate in 2019-2020
2.01 – Dropout rate in 2018-2019
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