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.