Cracking Down

ARRESTS MORE COMMON IN SOME CITY SCHOOLS

When a child is arrested inside a Nashua school, chances are it's
for one of three reasons: fighting with a classmate, getting caught
with drugs or acting out of control.

Assault, drug violations and disorderly conduct are overwhelmingly
the most common offenses inside the city's public high schools and
middle schools – or at least the crimes that staff and police
are picking up on.

However, students are arrested at some city schools more frequently
than others. Five years worth of school arrest statistics from the
Nashua Police Department reveal which schools have the highest
arrest rates, what students are doing to get arrested and
which crimes almost never take place in city schools.

Since Nashua High School North opened in 2002, arrest rates at the
south campus have consistently been higher. Among the three middle
schools, Elm Street usually has the highest percentage of student
arrests. Although the city's alternative middle school has the
smallest pool of students – typically close to 100 – it
has the highest arrest ratio in the district by a landslide.

Although the Academy of Learning and Technology has led the district
in arrests per student since it opened, the rate declined by about
half this past school year. It dropped from one in seven to one in
15. The ALT school primarily enrolls students in grades 6-9.

The most common offense at both high schools was disorderly conduct.
South had 119 of those arrests in the last five years; North had 60.
The second most common charge was assault. Drugs violations were
third, ranging from dealing prescription medications to possessing narcotics.

Assault was the most common offense at all three middle schools and
the ALT school, although drug and disorderly conduct charges were
also frequent. Theft charges were more common at the middle schools
than the high schools.

Throughout the district, alcohol-related arrests were rare. There
have only been five in the last three years, compared to 75 total
drug arrests. That could be because drug offenses rise to the level
of arrest more often than alcohol violations, Acting Superintendent
Chris Hottel said.

Weapons offenses have also been infrequent. Three kids were arrested
at Fairgrounds Middle School in the last five years for bringing
weapons to school, but similar offenses weren't reported at any
other school. There was one sexual assault arrest, which happened at
Pennichuck Middle School.

Although the south high school consistently had higher arrest rates,
the disparity was greatest four years ago – when North had
just opened. At the time, South held only sophomores because it was
being renovated. Juniors and seniors attended North. Ninth graders
were still attending Fairgrounds, Elm Street and Pennichuck junior highs.

Although South had half the student population of North, the arrest
ratio was three times higher. That year, there was only one arrest
at North for every 87 students. At South, that number was one in 25.

Arrest ratios were calculated by dividing the number of arrests by
the total student enrollment.

Hottel explained that younger students misbehave more often than
older students. A school made up of only 10th-graders, as was the
case with South, would probably have more discipline incidents than
a school with only upperclassman, he said.

"Generally, at-risk students need to be addressed in grades 9 and
10," Hottel said. "The maturity is still growing in those years."

Since both schools shifted to the traditional freshman-to-senior
model in 2004, the disparity between arrest rates has declined. More
students are still arrested at South, but by a much smaller margin.

The tendency for ninth- and 10th-graders to get in trouble more
often could also explain why arrest rates at the middle schools
declined that year, when ninth graders moved to the high schools.
Pennichuck, Fairgrounds and Elm Street middle schools saw
their arrest rates drop by around half. They dropped by about half
again during the school year that just ended.

Nashua Board of Education member Michael Clemons, who handles
discipline at Manchester's Central High School as an assistant
principal, said ninth grade is a tough year of transition, so kids
are more likely to misbehave.

Thus, taking the ninth graders out of the middle schools should
naturally cause arrest rates to decline.

"The toughest year other than kindergarten or the first grade . . .
is probably the ninth grade," Clemons said. "The ninth grade seems
to be the problem year."

Further, the district's method of discipline changed with the shift
from junior highs to middle schools, Fairgrounds Assistant Principal
Sharon Coffey said. For example, Coffey now has to get permission
from the superintendent to suspend a student for more than 10 days.
Then the school has to hold a hearing to determine the appropriate punishment.

"The approach is different. It's more age-appropriate," she said.

However, that still doesn't explain why Elm Street continues to
arrest and suspend significantly more students than the other middle schools.

According to Coffey, it could come down to demographics. Elm Street
has a "tougher clientele," she said.

Hottel noted that the school is much larger than the others. Elm
Street's enrollment was around 1,400 this past school year, compared
to around 1,000 at Fairgrounds and fewer than 800 at Pennichuck.