Tuesday, April 17, 2001 | 11:27 a.m.
Violence between students went up 38 percent in a one-year period, according to annual Clark County School District accountability reports.
The latest report, covering the 1999-2000 school year, shows that 5,134 students were disciplined for violent acts toward other students.
That compares with 3,732 reports of violence among students in 1998-99.
That was among the most interesting findings of Monday's report, which also covers standardized test results, technology, dropout rates, school enrollments, attendance and transiency rates, student-to-teacher ratios, fiscal information and other areas.
"We're talking about shoving matches or one or two punches being exchanged," Ken Young, spokesman for the school district's police department, said. "There were very few knock-down, drag-out fights."
About 700 of the confrontations were serious enough to require police intervention, Young said.
The bulk of the incidents -- 3,543 -- occurred in middle schools.
"Middle school kids begin trying to find themselves," Young said. "After six years of constant supervision, they begin getting a taste of an environment that is less restricted."
Violence against school staff also went up 38 percent in the same period, from 165 in 1998-99 to 227 in 1999-2000. Most of the incidents involved staff members breaking up student fights, the report states.
School Board President Mary Beth Scow called the statistics "a huge concern." But she pointed out that the number of students possessing weapons went down 13 percent, from 526 to 454.
Young said about 85 percent of the weapons confiscated are BB guns or pellet guns.
Also on the rise were the possession and use of controlled substances, the report reveals. Students suspended for using drugs almost doubled.
In 1998-99, 363 students were disciplined for drug use. The figure shot up to 693 in 1999-2000.
"Kids are experimenting, mostly with marijuana," Young said. "We see very few cases involving cocaine, for the most part. Marijuana is the most accessible drug, but it's also a gateway to other drugs."
The distribution of controlled substances on school campuses went up, as well, from 53 violations in 1998-99 to 84 in 1999-2000.
The number of students disciplined for extortion or making threats also rose significantly, but can be traced to the tone set by the Columbine High School shooting, Young said.
"If a student says they are going to shoot someone or blow up a school, we take it very seriously," he said.
In 1998-99, 535 students were disciplined for extortion or threats, compared with 703 in 1999-2000, an increase of 31 percent.
Figures for possession and use of alcohol and students who are habitual discipline problems stayed about the same over the one-year period.
Students with habitual discipline problems are defined as those who were involved in threats or extortion, who were suspended for initiating at least two fights or who were suspended a total of five times for any reason.
Young said that while improvement is always necessary, the number of incidents is not out of line with the size of the district. Clark County, the country's sixth-largest school district, has about 231,000 students.
Superintendent Carlos Garcia could not be reached for comment today.
State law requires all schools to complete an accountability report or a school profile for parents and students. Information from those reports is included in the districtwide accountability report.
Individual school profiles are available on the district's website at ccsd.net. The districtwide report will be posted on the website by early May.
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