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RINGWOOD - Report shows steady drop in school violence
(by Teresa Edmond - Staff Writer - July 30, 2008)
RINGWOOD – Numbers show a “steady decline” in the amount of violence committed within the 2007-08 school year, said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Martin. Statistics reveal a drop from 17 incidents in the 2006-07 school year to 13 this past school year.
Although the amount of vandalism incidents jumped from one in the 2006-07 school year to five this past school year, those acts were not committed by any of the district’s students, Martin said.
Martin disclosed the 2007-08 district violence and vandalism report at the July 28 Board of Education meeting. He attributed the decline in violence to the district community’s commitment to teach students to respect school personnel.
“We want to see the (violence and vandalism) numbers go down and test scores go up,” he said.
Melissa Griegel, a school board trustee, said in a July 29 phone interview that she was “very pleased” to see the declining statistics in the vandalism and violence report, especially since the number reflects the school personnel’s commitment to teach students good behavior.
When it comes to the financial toll, the single incident of vandalism in the 2006-07 school year did not cost the district anything to address, but vandalism costs leapt to $420 last school year to cover two nighttime episodes that occurred at the E.G. Hewitt School. One incident involved the destruction of parking lights, and another involved a trailer’s license plate. Martin said that the district’s children weren’t behind that vandalism, a detail which school officials expressed relief about.
“Four hundred twenty dollars will jump out, as a number that being out of whack, but it’s a result of two (vandalism) incidents that have nothing to do with our students,” Martin said.
“I think we’d be more concerned if our students were the ones purposely destroying the property,” Griegel said in the phone interview.
The number of short-term student suspensions – lasting from one to three days – dropped from 25 during the 2006-07 school year to 22 last school year. Martin said that long-term suspensions are “counterproductive” because students would have to catch up in school when they return.
For judgment calls on finding the best ways to handle varying degrees of in-school circumstances like bullying and harassment, the school district contacts the Police Department for its opinion.
Police Chief Bernard Lombardo said that the Police Department and the district have a “great” relationship filled with open communication about the students.
“It’s important that schools and the Police Department work together to determine the best course of action because it’s a case by case situation,” he said. “Some kids need to go to court, and other times that’s counterproductive.”
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