CRIME DOWN 11% IN SCHOOLS

Hike In Randolph And Pequannock

The number of violence, vandalism and crime incidents reported by
schools in Morris County decreased by 11 percent when comparing the
2004-05 school year with the previous year, according to a state
report released on Thursday.

The most significant decreases occurred in Rockaway Township,
Roxbury, Morris Hills Regional, Dover and Hanover.

The Randolph and Pequannock school districts, on the other hand, went
against the county trend, experiencing significant increases in the
number of violence, vandalism and crime incidents from year to year.

The report, issued annually by the state Department of Education for
more than 20 years, used statistics gathered in the 2004-05 school
year. The incidents are reported electronically by school
administrators and faculty on an ongoing basis throughout the school
year. Data from the school year that just ended is still being
analyzed by the department.

Dover school board President Liz Corsetto said that her district's
large drop in violence --from 71 to 31 reported incidents -- probably
was due to schools analyzing what their problems were and addressing
them, rather than a change in the way incidents are reported.

"Following the reporting requirements from the state DOE is something
that we're always conscious of," she said.

Dover schools Superintendent Robert Becker could not be reached for comment.

In general, schools are working hard to identify where incidents are
occurring, and to take steps to prevent them, said Susan Martz,
director of the state DOE's Office of Program Support Services.

Proactive schools

"If the incidents are occurring, for example, during free periods
when classes are changing, or during recess, schools have instituted
more supervision in those areas, or changed traffic in corridors to
eliminate contact between students," Martz said. "They've actually
been trying to do a lot of things."

Pequannock's total reported incidents increased from nine to 30,
largely due to 13 drug incidents during the 2004-05 school year.

Pequannock's new school superintendent, Larrie Reynolds, said
Thursday that the drug incidents involved 13 students coming to
school under the influence of alcohol.

Reynolds noted that there were no drug incidents in the past school
year. The improvement may stem from a random drug testing policy that
the district's high school and middle school adopted last year,
Reynolds said. Under the policy, any student who joins an
extracurricular organization, and any student who voluntarily wishes
to be part of the drug testing program, may be randomly tested for drugs.

Fluctuations in Pequannock's violence incidents -- from five in
2003-04, to 12 in 2004-05 and to three in the school year that just
ended -- might simply be due to a change in the kids in school, Reynolds said.

"Why do they fight nowadays? Girlfriends. It just happens," he said.
"Ultimately, in any school, no matter where it is, you're going to
have some kid that's going to lose his temper."

In Randolph, violence incidents went up from 19 to 37 and drug
incidents from four to 19.

Randolph's schools superintendent was on vacation and couldn't be
reached for comment.

The district's communications director, Judy Palermo, noted that
although the total number of incidents increased 88 percent -- from
36 in 2003-04 to 68 the following year, the number of incidents went
down again, to 30, in the school year that just ended.

"Every year, of course, is different," she said. "We take everything
very seriously, and we have a wonderful working relationship with the
police department. We just did our last report, and it's back down."

Reliable reporting?

Asked if the DOE report's statistics are reliable since they are
self-reported by schools, Martz said that the state has taken steps
to improve the consistency and accuracy of reporting, including
surveying 19 out of the 51 districts in the state to find out what
factors contributed to sizable declines in the number of reported incidents.

In the future, verification of reporting will be part of all
districts, said Barbara Gantwerk, assistant acting commissioner for
the state DOE.

Mary Donohoe, a spokeswoman for the Morris School District, which
reported 76 incidents in 2004-05 -- the highest in the county --
cautioned that the DOE reports' statistics can be misleading,
especially because districts can be more or less aggressive in
reporting incidents.

"I can tell you for a fact that we're extremely aggressive in
reporting," Donohoe said. "Especially at the high school level, we
report all incidents."

Donohoe said the district's schools, which serves 4,650 students, are safe.

"Certainly, the best way to get an idea of the safety environment of
school is to speak to parents, students and staff at the school, or
to actually see it," she said. "We invite anyone who wishes to visit
our schools," she said.