CRIME ON SCHOOL CAMPUSES ROSE DURING 2005-06

Most Incidents Involved Drugs or Alcohol and Few Were Violent, Report
From State Says

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools had an increase in crime in
2005-06, though few involved violence, according to a report from
the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

There were 415 acts of crime or violence on the school system's
campuses last year, or about 8.4 acts for every 1,000 students,
according to data released Thursday by the state. In 2004-05, there
were 6.1 acts for every 1,000 students, although school officials
said that the data used may have been unreliable.

About 68 percent of the incidents involved possession of drugs or
alcohol. There were 92 cases that involved possession of a weapon
other than firearms, and 24 incidents of assault on school
personnel. There were also a few cases of bomb threats, assaults on
students and possession of firearms.

No crimes were reported in 35 of the school system's 41 elementary
schools and in only one of the 18 middle schools.

The school system's threshold for reporting acts of crime or
violence is lower than that of the general public. For example, if a
student takes a pocketknife to school, he or she is listed as being
in possession of a weapon, which may not lead to a charge in the
criminal-courts system.

Crime incidents have grown steadily for five years, and school
officials said they are not sure why.

"Potentially, more offenses are being committed. That certainly is a
possibility," said Drew Davis, a school attorney. "Two, I think we
have done a better job addressing issues that occur at school. And
NCWISE (the computer system) is far advanced ... and allows us to
put incidents in distinct categories,"

Superintendent Don Martin said that the school system's
drug-enforcement program, which includes random drug testing of
students involved in extracurricular activities and sports, might
help explain the high numbers.

"If you're aggressively catching people, your numbers are up,"
Martin said. "I'm not saying that's why ours are up, but ... that's
why those numbers are high every year. If we were low, I'd be
concerned were we being aggressive enough."

High-school principals make an effort to go out and look for drugs
on campuses, said Paul Puryear, the assistant superintendent for high schools.

"Our board has made possession and selling of drugs a top priority.
They really frown on that, and principals know that," Puryear said.

Last year, teachers at two schools were accused of having improper
sexual relationships with students. Neither case appears in the
state's report.

One of the cases, which involved a teacher at East Forsyth High who
agreed to surrender her teaching license after an investigation by
the school system, was not in the report, partly because the
offenses did not occur on school grounds, Davis said.

The other case - that of Robert William Watson Jr., a math teacher
at Clemmons Middle School who was accused of sex acts with students
- - is not included in the report for two reasons, Davis said: The
case has yet to go to trial, and school officials did not find
out about the allegations until after the June 30 deadline for
submitting data.

Davis said that he and Doug Punger, the school attorney, have asked
the state how to amend the report should Watson be found guilty.

They also want to know whether they should include teachers who were
deemed guilty by the school system but not the courts, Davis said.

School Violence

Violence grew in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools last
year. Acts of violence and crime include everything from possession
of drugs and alcohol to assault and other violent offenses.

Year Acts Of Violence And Crime Acts Per 1,000 Students

2005-06 415 8.4

2004-05 295 6.1

2003-04 311 6.6

2002-03 251 5.4

2001-02 209 4.6