Recently released data show that fights and other forms of physical aggression are on the rise among L.A. Unified students, as the percentage of middle and high school students surveyed who said they feel safe on campus continues to decline.
Incidents of fights and physical aggression increased by a third last school year compared to the previous year, rising from 4,950 to 6,620.
Numbers for the first month of the current school year are up nearly 25% over last year, rising from 400 to 467. These numbers have been rising for several years, despite a steady decline in enrollment and a relative increase in school staffing.
The data points were released at Thursday’s Board of Education’s School Safety Committee meeting, along with the results of last spring’s School Experience Survey. The survey assesses the feelings, experiences and perceptions of students, staff and parents, broadly covering academics, social and emotional learning and school climate. Questions about safety are in the school climate portion.
For most questions, participants had five options: strongly agree; agree; neither disagree; nor agree; disagree; strongly disagree.
In response to the prompt, “I feel safe at this school or in online school sessions,” 61% of high school students said “strongly agree” or “agree.” Another 31% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 8% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
While a comparatively small percentage of students said they felt unsafe, the number was still roughly one in 10. There was no widespread support for safety measures among the remaining students.
“This is really alarming data,” said school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin, who chairs the safety committee. “It’s hard to see — that things have gotten worse over the last few years. Things are even more difficult for our kids and communities. And we know that signs of violence are really signs of trauma and unmet needs.”
Prevalence Moving forward in the wrong direction.
Several questions were asked relating to different aspects of safety, and were combined into one safety metric. In data from the 2018-19 school year, the percentage of high school students reporting an overall high rating for safety is slowly declining: 62%, 61%, 69%, 61%, 59%, 58%.
The 69% figure for 2020-21 is an exception. That was during a period of remote learning when campuses were closed for the entire year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, most LA Unified students were off campus for the entire academic year.
Research clearly indicated that students in LA and across the country suffered academically and emotionally due to remote learning, but LA students felt somewhat safer staying at home.
Safety statistics in high school are dismal, but they’re even worse for middle school, where 57% of students said they “strongly agree” or “agree” that they feel safe.
In primary schools – where many adults believe pupils live in a relatively safe and happy environment – 76% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel safe at school.
Data on incidents in schools was taken from iStar reports, an obscure but useful metric. iStar stands for Incident System Tracking Accountability Report, and it is an internal district system. It is used to report crimes, fights, threats, vandalism, graffiti, vaping in the bathroom, suicidal thoughts, and more. These reports are usually prepared by a school principal. The principal has wide discretion to file these incident reports, but may face consequences if an unreported incident causes problems later. It seems that this knowledge encourages most principals to report incidents.
The district’s reporting to the public is another matter. The district has also refused to release redacted iStar reports that anonymize students or summaries specific to specific schools.
But officials have provided limited districtwide data — and that was the only data presented Thursday.
The overall data from the incident summaries were mixed, but generally headed in the wrong direction. The number of students expressing suicidal thoughts decreased slightly last year, but this year the rate is on the rise.
The number of weapons recovered fell slightly to 1,276 from 1,362 last year. The weapons include anything from Exacto knives to loaded semi-automatic guns. At least Four loaded or empty guns Two weapons were confiscated in the first month of the school year. At least two of these weapons were semi-automatic.
On Friday, internal district sources reported that a semi-automatic pistol was found at Bell High School with a loaded and illegal magazine attached. District officials did not provide those details, but said a search of a student following an “altercation” turned up a “gun.”
The latest figures also include incidents involving illegal or controlled substances, which have continued to rise, as well as incidents involving threats.
In addition to data, the safety committee’s agenda also included what the district is doing to make schools safer — and many efforts are underway. Thursday’s discussion focused almost entirely on counseling-related programs, not on police efforts or measures taken to address threats to the school from off-campus.
Los Angeles School Police Department There is no representation on the safety committee. According to board rules, the seven-member school board can include up to three of its members on any particular committee. The safety committee is chaired by Franklin and includes school board President Jackie Goldberg and board member Rocio Rivas, who has spoken out in favor of placing strict limits on the role of school police. Franklin has consistently advocated for eliminating school police altogether, while also insisting that the data be disclosed to the public.
The district’s preferred approach to student discipline involves supporting positive behavior and “restorative practices”, through which students take responsibility for their actions and learn to improve.
The role of school police was discussed by public speakers. Channing Martinez of the locally based Labor Community Strategy Center said that restorative practices cannot be fully effective as long as the district continues to embrace racist practices, including funding the school police department.
On the other hand, many parents demanded a reduction in the number of school police and returning officers in middle and high schools. Voted in 2020 The decision was made to remove school police from campus and drastically cut the department’s budget.
“What we’re seeing here in the data is an increase in fights,” said Diana Guillen, a parent who serves in volunteer leadership positions on district advisory groups. “So what are you going to do about it? Your program is failing.”
Goldberg wanted to know why students felt unsafe.
“Ask them, ‘What makes you feel safe?’ That would be an interesting help, because we have some kids who feel safe around police and some kids who don’t,” Goldberg said.
Goldberg also questioned the effectiveness of restorative practices, though she strongly supports the concept. She said at most a handful of schools in her district are implementing these practices effectively.
Andres Chat, the head of school operations, acknowledged the problem while answering questions. He said restorative practices — while still imperfect — reached a peak leading up to the pandemic and then lost momentum. He said the district is still trying to catch up.
But he also highlighted positive signs, including the addition of nearly 800 psychiatric social workers, the highest number the district has ever had, he said. The district is also expanding partnerships with private and public entities, Chait said. Working with the city of Los Angeles, there are now more crossing guards than ever before, for example, providing an adult presence on the way to and from campus.
The safety issue extends to the neighborhoods surrounding schools, where, according to survey results, students said they felt less safe than on campus.
These surveys are also conducted for parents and school staff.
About 78% of parents agreed that their children in middle and high schools were safe on school grounds. For elementary schools, the figure was 90%.
Nearly 9 in 10 school staff agreed that they felt safe on their middle or high school campus. For elementary schools, the figure was 96%.
For middle and high schools, nearly 8 in 10 staff agreed that they felt safe “in the area around their school.” For elementary schools, the figure was 85%.
The district listed participation rates of 94% for students, 97% for staff and 58% for parents. The survey was mostly online, though some paper forms were distributed on campuses for parents to use. The survey was conducted from Feb. 12 through March 22.
