RALEIGH — According to North Carolina’s 2023-24 Consolidated Data Report, which covers crime in the state’s K-12 public schools, there were improvements in school violence and dropout rates, though some disciplinary measures increased.
The annual school crime report produced by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) showed crime and violence incidents decreased by 7.7% from the previous year, with 77% of schools reporting five or fewer incidents.
However, the year-to-year rate dropped less than 1 percent between 2022-23 and 2023-24, going from 15.10 to 14.19, but the three-year crime and violence rate is still up 9.3% over 2021-22, according to NCDPI. The latter statistic was tempered by noting “this is the first data post-COVID-pandemic data point.”
Other key points from the Consolidated Data report include:
- High school dropout rate fell to 1.88 per 100 students (down from 1.95)
- Alternative learning placements decreased by 17.2%
- Expulsions decreased by 53.4%
- In-school suspensions increased 2.9% (175.38 per 1,000 students)
- Long-term suspensions increased 2.8% (48.40 per 100,000 students)
The report highlighted persistent disparities, with black students, students with disabilities, male students and those identifying with multiple races experiencing higher rates of disciplinary actions.
No corporal punishment was reported for the sixth consecutive year.
State Superintendent Mo Green expressed optimism about the overall trends while acknowledging the need to address demographic disparities.
“While crime and acts of violence in schools are always unacceptable and hinders the learning and growth of students,” Green said in a press release, “I’m optimistic that reductions in the rate of crime, violence and dropouts in high school reflect positive change.
“It is promising that 77% of North Carolina public schools reported zero to five acts of school violence,” said Green. “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.”
Chief Accountability Officer Michael Maher noted that post-pandemic comparisons should consider how COVID-19 impacted education.
“When looking at the data long term, it’s important to remember that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of schools,” said Maher. “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.”
A presentation to the N.C. State Board of Education gave further details about the data, which included a 3.7% decrease in high school dropout rate from 2022-23 to 2023-24 and an overall 3.2% increase in numbers of in-school suspensions.
Here is the list of reportable crimes included in the report, which will be transmitted to the General Assembly:
For comparison, here is a historical look at the reportable crimes list going back a decade to 2014. Click here for a larger view:
Going back five years to 2019-20 and comparing it to 2023-24, the total number of reportable crimes increased by 5,063, or 70.3%. Similarly, a 10-year comparison (2014-15 to 2023-24) shows an increase of 1,874 crimes, or 18.1%.
The number of reportable acts of crime was naturally higher for districts in the state with the highest Average Daily Membership (ADM).
The chart below shows the Public School Unit (PSU) or school with the highest number of acts per each item on the reportable crime list.
The following charts are a look at the top 10 PSUs based only on the highest number of total acts reported (left) and the top 10 PSUs for the number of total acts reported ranked by ADM from largest to smallest (right).
Additional key tables with breakouts by district and school levels:
Past annual Consolidated Data Reports can be found on the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s website.
