Pubdate: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 Source: Daily Reflector (Greenville, NC) Copyright: 2005 Daily Reflector Contact: http://www.reflector.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1456 Author: Jennifer White Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) CRIMINAL ACTS RISE AT PITT SCHOOLS Thirty-five more criminal acts last year were reported in Pitt County Schools over the year before, an increase that was mirrored statewide, according to the state Board of Education. Because of the increase, Pitt County Schools ranked fifth in the state Board of Education's annual report on school crime and violence released last week. The school system reported 297 acts last year and 262 acts in 2003-04. Administrators have varying theories on why the increase has occurred. "The things that are happening in our schools are reflective of what is happening in our community," Barbara Turcotte, director of Student Services with the school system said. "The nature of the activities that you see in your community - the drug activity, the gang activity, and things of that nature - often times spill over into the schools." However, J.H. Rose Principal George Frazier said he thinks better security and surveillance is allowing staff to catch more problems. Statewide, crimes and violence increased slightly in 2004-05, according to numbers reported by the State Board of Education. Schools reported 10,107 incidents, up 3 percent from 2003-04. Schools during 2003-04 reported a 15 percent increase in crimes, which include 17 acts from drug possession to assault with a deadly weapon. In Pitt County, the most common incidents reported last year were drug and weapon possession. Marijuana is the most common drug reported on Pitt County's campuses, Turcotte said. She said that weapons run the gamut from firearms to sharp objects like scissors and nail files. "We have very few firearms that turn up on campus," she said. "It's the whole range of other things, any item that could be brought with the intent of doing harm to somebody." J.H. Rose High School reported the most crimes in the school system and the biggest increase over a one-year period. The school reported 51 crimes in 2004-05, 24 more than reported the previous year. George Frazier, principal at J.H. Rose, said that more crimes are being reported at his school because of programs like Campus CrimeStoppers where students can report incidents anonymously. The school also increases the number of surveillance cameras each year, Frazier said. This year they have 32. "Some of these things we're better able to detect because we have a number of cameras placed strategically throughout the school," Frazier said. "The camera's recording when we may not be there. That plays a very very important part in terms of surveillance." Frazier said he has seen few incidents in school that stemmed from a problem in the community. When it does happen, parents have been instrumental in letting the school know about neighborhood problems. "They play a big part, especially something happening in the neighborhood and they want to give us a heads up," Frazier said. "It really takes a team environment for a school the size of Rose High." Farmville Central High School showed the biggest drop in campus crime. The school reported 12 incidents last year, down from the 28 crimes reported in 2003-04. Valerie Galberth, principal at the school, said the number of school crimes is generally higher among the freshmen class. "They need time to adjust, and unfortunately, we kind of hit them hard up front to let them know what's expected at this school," she said. "Once they realize that, the numbers begin to drop." Turcotte said that the school system has a number of initiatives in place to help cut down on school crimes. They include student-run, anti-violence clubs, skill building courses for ninth-graders, peer remediation programs and Campus CrimeStoppers. Schools also have support staff such as resource officers, counselors, nurses and psychologists, Turcotte said. "Some of the programs are very effective some of the time," she said. "We certainly don't have it all figured out." Tiffany Benfield, principal at South Greenville Elementary, said that support programs have been effective in reducing the number of crimes at her school. South Greenville reported five fewer crimes last year than in 2003-04. The school partners with the local Boys & Girls Club to provide students with adult supervision and help with homework after school. Teachers also participate in a buddy program to give extra attention to children who need it. "When we have a student that maybe just needs some more attention from some other adult in the building, we will sometimes buddy them up," Benfield said. "That teacher makes a point to stop by that child's classroom and lunch table and just touch base with the child about how their day's going - just have positive involvement with that child." Students who violate the student code of conduct sometimes have the option of attending a transitional learning center or getting counseling instead of being suspended from school, Turcotte said. The school system partners with a mental health facility that offers eight-week counseling sessions to students after a first offense. "If it's a first-time offense, we feel like in the long run it will be more productive to help the student and the family face the issue rather than just put them out," Turcotte said. "We're trying to approach this thing not only from the standpoint of having consequences for inappropriate actions but having some intervention and prevention to get students on the right track." Turcotte said that each case is reviewed individually before deciding on an appropriate course of action. "We do take those things seriously - if the circumstances indicate to us that our students and school could be unsafe because of an offense that a student committed, then action would be taken to remove that student from campus." Turcotte said that she hopes these programs are managing school crime, but the problem is not going away. "We hope they're going to go down, but we're also trying to be vigilant and keeping our eyes open to these things coming into our schools," she said. "We do have a lot of good things happening in our schools, but we don't totally have a handle on it. We need the help of our community and our parents and students to get this thing turned around." THE FIGURES The list here shows the number of criminal acts reported in Pitt County's schools in 2003-04, followed by the number in 2004-05. - - A.G. Cox: 19-22 - - Ayden Elementary: 7-0 - - Ayden Middle: 11-8 - - Ayden-Grifton: 22-24 - - Belvoir: 0-0 - - Bethel: 2-0 - - C.M. Eppes: 16-21 - - Chicod: 4-12 - - D.H. Conley: 12-27 - - Falkland: 10-6 - - Eastern: 3-0 - - E.B. Aycock: 14-9 - - Elmhurst: 0-1 - - Farmville Middle: 11-12 - - Farmville Central: 28-12 - - Grifton: 1-1 - - G.R. Whitfield: 1-11 - - H.B. Sugg: 0-0 - - J.H. Rose: 27-51 - - North Pitt: 20-26 - - Northwest: 4-5 - - Pactolus: 7-10 - - W.H. Robinson: 4-1 - - Sadie Saulter: 5-3 - - Sam D. Bundy: 0-3 - - South Central: 9-13 - - South Greenville: 8-3 - - Stokes: 3-0 - - Wahl-Coates: 1-0 - - Wellcome: 6-13 - - Wintergreen Intermediate: 7-2 - - Wintergreen Primary: 0-1 - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin