More kids cut class over safety concerns

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

The percentage of Clark County School District high school students who said they skipped school in the previous 30 days because they didn't feel safe tripled from 5 percent in 1999 to 15 percent in 2001 in a new survey of students.

But school district officials point out that the survey was given to students near the second anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings, which may have colored the results.

"Most schools saw attendance drops around the (Columbine anniversary) date, because of heightened concerns among parents and students," said Ron Ross, administrative specialist with the school district who coordinated the survey results. "Obviously there's no way to know for sure, but I believe Columbine has something to do with the huge jump."

The "Nevada Youth Risk Behavior Survey" is given every two years by the state Department of Education. When the school safety question was asked in the spring of 1999, prior to the April 20 incident in Columbine, Colo., just 5 percent of the students said they had skipped school because of safety fears. When the same question was posed two years later, the number leaped to 15 percent.

"Usually by three weeks before the anniversary, we're in a frenzy of chasing rumors, threats and pranks," said Sgt. Ken Young, spokesman for the school district's police. "Some people in this area have made a mockery of that tragedy."

Statewide the percentage of students who reported skipping school because of safety fears also climbed substantially, from 5 percent in 1999 to 17 percent last year.

The number of students who said they had been threatened on school property was unchanged between 1999 and 2001, holding at 9 percent. Students who reported carrying a weapon to school was also the same for the two years, at 8 percent.

There has not been a significant increase in on-campus crime or violence, Young said.

"The crime rate is not growing anywhere near as fast as the student population," Young said.