Carteret schools improve slightly in reportable offenses

Numbers released in the 2008-09 Consolidated Data Report indicate improvement in Carteret County schools.

With 8,144 students, Carteret County Schools had 78 reportable offenses committed in 2008-09 compared to 80 in 2007-08.

“Although our count for 2008-2009 of 78 offenses was slightly lower than the previous school year, it is unacceptably high,” said Tabbie Nance, the spokeswoman for Carteret County Schools.

As with the state and Onslow County, Nance said the numbers are driven largely by possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

She pointed out that in many cases a student forgets and brings a small pocketknife to school then realizes the mistake rather than deliberately bringing a weapon to campus.

“It is rare for this and similar weapons to be brought to school with the intention of inflicting harm,” she said. “However, it is very important to lessen this number of infractions, and we need to do a better job communicating to students and families the importance of keeping all weapons off school campuses.”

She said alcohol possessions decreased significantly, but possession of a controlled substance “has been a consistent problem for several years.”

“Marijuana possession continues to be of concern and illicit possession of prescription medications has become more prevalent,” she said.

In 2008-09, Carteret County Schools had 729 short-term suspensions in grades nine through 12 giving them a rate of 28.4 per 100 students. It had 971 short-term suspensions for a rate of 37.8 per 100 students in 2007-2008.

She said the school has worked to lower rates.

“In August of 2008 our Board of Education adopted what has become known as Guidelines for Disciplinary Action that places limits on out-ofschool suspensions and matched these limits to the type of disciplinary infraction that occurred,” Nance said.

Carteret County Schools also had a decrease in dropouts, from 108 in 2007-08 to 72 in 2008-09.

“Although we are not satisfied with 72 dropouts, this number is our lowest ever, and the grades nine through 12 dropout rate of 2.60 is decidedly below the state rate of 4.27,” said Nance. “The mission of our school system is to graduate all students prepared to be productive citizens. We have increasingly focused on this mission.”

Nance cited teachers creating relationships with students as well as specific programs and academies that extend learning opportunities and provide extra assistance to students for contributing to the decrease. The district also added an additional social worker to help work with families and students who are at-risk of becoming school dropouts.

“Continued progress in developing student, school and family partnerships should continue this downward trend in dropout rate,” Nance said.