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(Kentucky Center for School Safety
In Cooperation with the Kentucky Department of Education)
Executive Summary
This is the tenth annual report produced by the Kentucky Center for School Safety and, once again, is cause for celebration. The most significant good news is that a comparison of the data presented here with past reports reveals 10-year lows in the number of expulsions (both with and without services) and corporal punishments for Board Violations, which declined to the lowest levels since we began tracking the data in the current format in 1999-2000. Additionally, these data reveal a dramatic reduction over the five-year period presented here in:
- Total Disciplinary actions for Board Violations
- Disciplinary actions for Disturbing class
- Disciplinary actions for Board Violations at each grade level in grades K-9
- Disciplinary actions for Drug Possession
Additionally, for the tenth consecutive year, no criminal homicides or forcible rapes were reported. Furthermore, encouraging developments can be seen in the fact that:
Part II Law Violations decreased over the past year.
There were very few disciplinary actions for menacing or abuse, disciplinary actions we began tracking this year as a result of KRS 158.156.
Nevertheless, not all the news from this report is good news. Despite decreases in both Board and Law Violations over the five-year period for students in grades K-9, disciplinary actions for both Board and Law Violations for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders increased over the five-year period. Additionally, both students that received free and reduced lunch and nonwhite students continue to be disproportionately represented in disciplinary actions for both Board and Law Violations. Disciplinary actions for serious law violations also increased slightly from 2007-2008, with most of that increase in disciplinary actions for larceny-theft and robbery. Finally, disciplinary actions for simple assault and drug distribution also increased from 2007-2008 totals, as did the total days that students were absent from school due to Out-of-School suspension. These findings suggest that, despite the many positive findings in this report, there are still areas where further study and efforts are needed.
Our ongoing efforts to increase the usefulness of the school safety data in the state of Kentucky continue this year. Due to enhanced data collection and reporting procedures, this year’s report again allows the reader to make comparisons about Board and Law Violations with regard to grade level, school type, socio-economic indicators, drug use and distribution, and Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These additional data continue to offer a rich database that encourages advanced exploration of the complexities of student behavior. Additionally, for the first time, all public school districts in the state used Infinite Campus as their data management system, which has the potential in the very near future to provide more timely data analysis of school safety data at the state and district level. These developments, coupled with ongoing efforts to provide school safety data with unique identifiers for analysis, are cause for excitement and anxious anticipation of upcoming reports. Despite these enhancements, the most important shortcoming in the data collection process that we continue to try to overcome involves the current inability to connect each disciplinary action to a particular student through a unique identifier. Individual-level data (gender, ethnicity, grade, lunch type, special education classification, limited English proficiency, mobility, etc.) remain available at the school level; however, we currently do not have access to that information. This continues to prohibit us from matching disciplinary actions with individuals. If we had that capability, data analysis could be more thorough and detailed. For example, examination of offender recidivism is currently not possible. This connection could assist schools in evaluating programs targeted to repeat offenders. As KDE continues to improve the process, we are hopeful that we will have access to these identifiers in the near future.
As always, KCSS is prepared to assist schools further with data usage. Training in this area is a part of the Center’s training efforts. For additional information regarding training opportunities, check our website at www.kysafeschools.org . Maintaining and improving the safety of Kentucky’s students and school staff members are the driving forces behind the Kentucky Center for School Safety. However, for parents, educators, and community members, children must be our first priority. Consequently, the safety of Kentucky’s school children is a shared responsibility. Let each of us make this responsibility a sacred trust in our future.
Safe School Data Report Webpage (Report and Appendices links below)
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