Pubdate: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 Source: Tennessean, The (TN) Copyright: 2004 The Tennessean Contact: http://www.tennessean.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447 Author: Claudette Riley Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) DRUG OFFENSES AMONG STUDENTS RISE State officials cannot explain surge but say many schools fighting crime Tennessee students committed more drug offenses last year than all other serious offenses put together. The number of times students were caught using, selling or carrying drugs in schools statewide shot up by 502 to a record 2,793 in a school year. They made up nearly 67% of the 4,196 zero-tolerance offenses - those serious enough to warrant expulsion or transfer to an alternative school - reported in 2003-04. ''We had a pretty significant increase in drug offenses last year,'' said Mike Herrmann, director of school safety for the state Department of Education. State officials couldn't explain the increase but pointed out that many schools have added security personnel and other features to combat crime. Stamping out drug use has become a priority for some systems because it can interfere with learning and bring other, tougher problems into schools. ''We're very serious about drug activities in schools. They are a catalyst for other activities that affect learning for everybody,'' said Woody McMillin, spokesman for Metro schools. ''It also imports into schools other problems, particularly crime.'' Schools aren't required to track the types of drugs they find on students and in their buildings. ''It's mostly marijuana and pills - that can be prescript and nonprescript,'' said Ivan Duggin, principal of Holloway High in Rutherford County. Marijuana is followed by a wide variety of prescription pills and over-the-counter medicines, but harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, rarely show up. Duggin said teachers and staff are trained to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity, including drug use or abuse. ''Students are aware that we consciously are looking. We're looking for things that would tip us off to drug use,'' Duggin said. ''We do have noses. There are some things we can smell.'' Many schools, including Holloway High, try to teach students to make good choices and not get involved in illegal or destructive behavior. ''We do all we can to be proactive,'' Duggin said. ''We talk about the behaviors you choose and how you can't be most productive when you have anything else altering who you are.'' The number of drug offenses statewide appeared to be going down slightly until last year, when they shot up. They had dropped from 2,345 in 2000-01 to 2,291 in 2002-03. But drug offenses aren't the only problems in public schools statewide. Of the 1,403 other incidents reported last year, the highest was students using or carrying weapons other than a gun followed by battery of a teacher or staff member. Here's what else last year's zero-tolerance numbers show: . Using or carrying a gun has remained the smallest category, making up just 2% of the incidents reported in each of the past four years. But the actual number of gun offenses reported each year has dropped. It went from 96 in 2000-01 to 77 last year. . Several categories dropped significantly last year. Threats of violence fell from 179 in 2000-01 to 75 in 2003-04; sexual battery and harassment went from 42 four years ago to 14 last year; and the assault, battery and fighting category dropped from 196 to 34 in the same period. . About 78% of the serious offenses were committed by students in regular education classes. . Of the students who commit zero-tolerance offenses, about 40% are remanded to alternative schools for the remainder of the school year or a full calendar year. Only about 18% are expelled for the remainder of the school year or longer. Others drop out, return to school, move to another school or start working on a GED. . The number of zero-tolerance offenses peaks in ninth grade. Last year, freshmen committed 1,146 or 27% of the incidents. Sophomores and eighth-graders were next with more than 15% each, followed by seventh-graders and then high school juniors. . Males are nearly three times more likely to commit serious offenses. They were cited in 3,077 incidents last year compared with 1,119 by females. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin