REPORT SAYS SCHOOL DRUG USE ON RISE

Violence is declining while drug use is growing at Guilford County Schools.

Data compiled by the district shows that violent crime rates in the schools
have dropped with incidents of assault, weapons possession, robberies and
sexual assault all showing declines. But drug use has shown a significant
increase over the past year: 138 incidents in 2001-2002, compared with 93
the year before.

While most categories of violent crime in the schools have fallen, total
Guilford County Schools crime statistics show a jump over last year: 353 in
2001-2002 compared to 285 in 2000-2001.

There are two reasons for the increase, said Director of School Safety Bob
Bateman.

One cause is drug proliferation. The other is that the state required
reporting for three new incident categories this year: bomb threats,
burning a school building and possession of alcohol.

The three new categories accounted for 45 occurrences, said Bateman, but
most of the system's crime increase can be attributed to drug possession.

"It seems like marijuana is back strong now," Bateman said. "We aren't
getting the club drugs, like Ecstasy, but we are getting quite a bit of
marijuana."

Part of the increase is the school system's no-nonsense stance on drugs,
Bateman said.

"The school district has decided that there is just no place for (drugs) on
campus," he said. "As a result, even smallest testable amounts of a drug
are reported as an incident."

The other factor in the increase is that Guilford County Schools has added
four new resource officers to the staff in the past two years. "They are
good at ferreting this stuff out," Bateman said. "With the increased number
of officers, you get an increase of incidents because they find out about it."

Elsie Leak, director of the division of school improvement with the N.C.
Department of Public Instruction, concurs.

"It's a complex issue," Leak said. "I think school personnel are being more
diligent, and that they are catching more students."

The state's 2001-02 numbers on school violence and crime will be released
in the fall.

The most up-to-date numbers show a slight increase in incidents, from 7,229
in 1999-00 to 7,565 in 2000-01.

But the state's long-term trend numbers are down significantly. In 1997-98,
the state reported 8,141 incidents, which means the three-year trend is
down by 576 occurrences.

"As we do these figures, it shows how impossible it is to separate schools
from the environment that the schools are in," said Leak, a former High
Point educator. "The community and the society really flows into the
schools. So, when there are problems in society, it's extremely hard to
keep it out of the schools."

Randolph schools showed an increase with 152 incidents in 2001-02 compared
with 112 in 2000-01.

Like the state, the long-term trend is downward. In 1998-99, the system
reported 190 incidents. Statistics show a drop in violent crime every year
since.

Davidson County's figures were unavailable Monday.

Sean Olson can be contacted at 888-3627 or solson@hpe.com

Copyright High Point Enterprise 2002