Special to IFN

RALEIGH — North Carolina public school units reported decreases in school violence and high school dropouts in the 2023-2024 academic year, according to the annual Consolidated Data Report presented today to the State Board of Education.

While the number of alternative learning placements as a disciplinary action also decreased, the report found an increase in the number of both in-school and long-term suspensions.

The report’s findings provide opportunities for school districts to identify and target interventions and increase safety awareness and protocols in their schools and communities.

“While crime and acts of violence in schools are always unacceptable and hinders the learning and growth of students,” State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green said, “I’m optimistic that reductions in the rate of crime, violence and dropouts in high school reflect positive change. It is promising that 77 percent of North Carolina public schools reported zero to five acts of school violence. There is still much work to be done to address the race, gender and disability disparities; I look forward to working with others to address these rates in the years to come.”

Overall, rates of crime and violence during the 2023-24 school year decreased by 7.7 percent from 2022-2023. While instances of assault on school personnel and bomb threats/hoaxes increased, every other reportable act of crime decreased or remained consistent between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

Year-to-year rates of crime and violence dropped between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, from 15.10 to 14.19, respectively. While acts of crime and violence is up 9.3 percent from 2021-22, this is the first data post-COVID-pandemic data point.

In addition to a reduction in instances of crime and violence, the total number and rates of enrollments in alternative learning programs and schools also decreased by 10.1 and 10.3 percent, respectively, from the past academic year, as did alternative learning placements as disciplinary actions, Some 17.2 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively, Alternative Learning Programs and Schools are safe, orderly, caring and inviting learning environments that assist students with overcoming challenges that might place them “at-risk” of academic failure. The goal of each program and school is to provide a rigorous education while developing individual students’ strengths, talents and interests.

Both short-term suspensions and long-term removals from school declined in the same period. Long-term removals include long-term suspensions and alternative learning enrollment in lieu of long-term suspensions. Notably, the number of expulsions decreased by 53.4 percent during the 2023-2024 school year.

The rate of in-school suspensions and long-term suspensions increased by 2.9 and 2.8 percent, respectively, in 2023-2024.

North Carolina public schools, which educates more than 1.5 million students, assigned 264,510 in-school suspensions of a half-day or more to 131,704 students, with a rate of 175.38 in-school suspensions per 1,000 students enrolled, up from 170.46 in 2022-2023. Black students, students with disabilities, male students and students identifying with two or more races had the highest rates of in-school suspensions per 1,000 students among the various student subgroups.

In 2023−2024, the rate of long-term suspensions increased to 48.40 from 47.09 per 100,000 students from the previous academic year.

While the rate of alternative learning placement as disciplinary action dropped to 2.51 from 3.04 placements per 1,000 students year-to-year, Black students, American Indian students, students with disabilities and male students had the highest rates of placements per 1,000 students.

“When looking at the data long term, it’s important to remember that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of schools,” Chief Accountability Officer Michael Maher said. “The way classrooms operated in 2018-19, let alone 10 years ago in 2013-14, to now is vastly different given the use of technology and other factors. While crime and violence in schools is never what we want, it is promising to see that rates have dropped this year.”

The North Carolina high school dropout rate for the 2023−2024 academic year decreased to 1.88 dropouts per every 100 high school students, from 1.95 in 2022-2023. The 2023-2024 school year’s dropout rate is the lowest in the past 10 years, excluding the 2019-2020 school year, which saw the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. North Carolina public schools reported 10,559 dropouts in grades 1 through 12 with the highest percentage of dropouts in grade 9 at 33.2 percent.

For the sixth consecutive academic year, zero uses of corporal punishment were reported across the state.

Annually, the consolidated data report provides a comparative analysis in student discipline and dropout outcomes. It is a statutorily required report due to the N.C. General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by March 15 each year.

LEARN MORE

For more information about the Consolidated Data Report, visit the Discipline, ALP and Dropout Data website.