Fewer students are behaving badly

The latest figures show student infractions are down in county schools. The number of in-school and out-of-school suspensions decreased by 3.57 percent during the 2008- 09 school year as compared to the previous year, despite an increase in student enrollment. Certain offenses were down as well, including weapons violations (off 2.65 percent), incidents against staff (off 9 percent) and alcohol, tobacco and drug infractions (off 5 percent). Overall, incidents of school violence have decreased significantly between 2003 and 2008, reflecting national trends.

Bob Talley, director of student conduct and pupil placement, presented these findings to the Chesterfield School Board during a work session last week.

The school system is required to submit statistics on student behavior to the state each July. Data is collected using an "incidentbased" system. Each incident may involve one or more offenses and one or more students, and school administrators are tasked with assigning a code to each offense for state tracking. There are approximately 150 codes from which to choose - each with its own definition - making it challenging for school officials. Some offenses are also required to be reported to law enforcement, including assault/battery, bomb threats, setting off a false fire alarm, drug use and possession, threat/intimidation and others.

Talley cautioned board members against comparing Chesterfield's numbers to other school districts since there may be differences in coding and how punishment is doled out.

"I believe we should compare ourselves to ourselves - one school should be compared to itself," explained Talley.

He also shared the following statistics with school board members:

• Of the more than 58,000 students who attend county schools, approximately 28 percent live in a single-parent household.

• Approximately 24 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch.

A full report on student behavior from the 2008-09 school year will be submitted by the end of this month to the Virginia Department of Education.

Bellwood Elementary addition

The board unanimously approved awarding a $3.4 million contract to Loughridge & Company for additions and renovations to Bellwood Elementary School. The project includes adding classrooms, restrooms and a mechanical area, as well as relocating the administrative area for security reasons. The project was originally budgeted for $4.2 million.

Incidents by offense category

School year	Weapon	Vs. student	Vs. staff	ATOD*	Property**	Technology***	Other****
2007-08	151	464	195	635	572	448	1,907
2008-09	147	550	178	605	548	800	2,800
Percent change (2.65)		19	(9)	(5)	(5)	79	47

*Alcohol, tobacco and drug offenses
**Includes vandalism and similar offenses
***Includes use of cell phones, beepers and similar offenses
****Catch-all category that includes infractions such as dress code violations, plagiarism, lying, etc.
Source: Chesterfield County Public Schools

How students were disciplined

School year	In-school suspension	Out-of-school suspension*	Long-term out-of-school**	Expelled***
2007-08	10,293	9,832	212	45
2008-09	10,224	7,914	226	39
Percent change	(0.067)	(19.5)	6.6	(13.3)

*1-10 days
**11-364 days
***365 days
Source: Chesterfield County Public Schools