State Names 17 More ‘Persistently Dangerous’ Schools
New York State education officials yesterday added 17 schools to the list of those considered “persistently dangerous,” substantially expanding the list for the second year in a row. All but 2 of the 27 schools on the new list are in New York City, including a dozen schools designed for students with severe disabilities.
The schools ranged from the behemoth Jamaica High School in Queens to smaller schools like Powell Middle School in Harlem and Public School 14 in Staten Island. The list also includes a school in Rochester and Berkshire Junior-Senior High School in Canaan, N.Y.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to compile annual lists of “persistently dangerous” schools but leaves it to each state to define the term. Many states, including New York, have been criticized for issuing extremely short lists in past years.
“We are utterly determined to make all schools safe,” said Richard P. Mills, the state education commissioner, in announcing the list yesterday at a news conference in Albany.
Mr. Mills said New York’s list had grown because the state had vastly improved its reporting efforts. He noted that the 49 other states had listed a total of only 30 schools as “persistently dangerous” last year, just a hairsbreadth more than the schools now listed by New York.
“I think for a while the list will continue to get longer,” Mr. Mills said. “We are just getting to the point where more people understand the definitions.”
He added, “I suspect the rest of the country will start to name more schools.”
Still, the list includes only two of the nine city schools Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg himself has said are especially unruly: Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn and Jamaica High; the latter reported an increase in the number of violent crimes last school year.
(The report and list of 27 schools are at www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/violence-data/2007/DangerousSchoolsRelease8-21-07.doc.)
Dina Paul Parks, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Education, said the state’s list was misleading because it relied on the schools’ reports of violent incidents rather than on police records, which the city uses to compile its own list of dangerous schools.
At a news conference yesterday at Gracie Mansion, Mayor Bloomberg said, “Any crime is obviously a crime too much, but we have 1.1 million kids in our school system, and we’re certainly not perfect, and we’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing.”
Since the first list was issued in 2003, the state has been accused of underestimating the number of unsafe schools. In 2005, it said that not a single school in the state should be classified as “persistently dangerous.”
Last year, the former state comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi, issued an audit finding that school officials had significantly underreported cases of violent and disruptive behavior, and that the State Education Department had kept sloppy records. At that time, Mr. Mills promised to dispatch inspectors to monitor reporting practices.
Schools that reported a sudden drop in incidents were audited by state officials, as were schools that had a broad reputation for behavior problems and crime.
This year, for the second time, the state used a broader definition of disruptive cases than it used in previous years to compile the list, which accounts for the sudden growth, Mr. Mills said. The state’s formula is complex and measures the number of incidents, including robbery, assault, use of a weapon and other incidents, compared with the number of students.
Eight schools that were on the list last year were removed this year.
In criticizing the state’s methodology, the city pointed to the listing of a disproportionate number of schools for students with severe disabilities.
“We continue to differ with the state regarding how to distinguish between merely disruptive behavior and behavior with the potential for harm,” Ms. Parks said. “There is a wide range of definitions, and it is sometimes misleading, so that they often miss the nuance and the context for some of these incidents.”
Ms. Parks said that in a number of the schools on the list, students have chronic behavior problems but are not dangerous.
The state expects to release a “watch list” later in the fall, to show schools that are at risk of being classified as “persistently dangerous” if they do not improve this year, Mr. Mills said.
Here is the letter from the State:
27 Schools Named As “Persistently Dangerous” Under NCLB
State Education Commissioner Richard Mills announced today that 27 schools have been identified as “persistently dangerous” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. As required by federal law, the list of schools is being announced today so that parents can exercise their right of school choice.
Commissioner Mills also said this is the first of two announcements to be made. Later this year, a “Watch List” of schools will be identified that – for 2006-2007 alone – have too many serious incidents. These schools must improve to avoid being designated as “persistently dangerous” after two consecutive years. This “Watch List” will potentially be larger than the list being issued today.
“The Regents know that nothing is more important than the safety of our children,” Regents Chancellor Robert M. Bennett said. “We are determined to help schools become safe. This is a problem that involves parents, the community, and the school. We must all take action to eliminate the serious problems that exist in some schools.”
“We know school officials work hard to ensure that children in their care are safe and learn to the best of their ability,” State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said. “Nonetheless, some schools report incidents that raise serious concerns about children’s welfare. It’s critically important that school leaders intervene quickly to keep children safe.”
“To ensure children’s safety, we must have accurate information,” Commissioner Mills said. “Only then will we know where the problems are. The reporting has improved, but there is more that needs to be done. The Regents are especially concerned about large urban high schools. We have increased monitoring of schools and are working with school officials to improve safety across the State.”
Data for all schools showing all “violent and disruptive incidents” reported by schools in 2005-2006 is also available online at www.nysed.gov.
Schools are designated “persistently dangerous” if they have two successive years of serious incidents (in this case, for 2005-2006 and 2006-2007) that meet or exceed criteria established by the State Education Department. Serious incidents include: homicide, forcible and other sexual offenses, robbery, assault resulting in serious physical injury or in physical injury, arson, kidnapping, reckless endangerment, and possession, use or threatened use of a weapon.
The standard is a ratio of violent incidents to enrollment in a school and is determined by the number and type of incidents. Each incident is given a weighting based on the seriousness of the incident. The weightings are added. The result is then divided by enrollment. This yields a numerical index of school violence.
A school is considered “persistently dangerous” if for both 2005-06 and 2006-07, it has either:
· An index of 1.5 (This is approximately 6 incidents per 100 students, more or less depending on the seriousness of the incidents.)
OR
· At least 60 serious incidents and an index of at least .50.
Seventeen of the 27 “persistently dangerous” schools are newly named this year; 10 remain from last year. The list of schools is attached.
A total of 8 schools were removed this year from the list of “persistently dangerous” schools, issued last year, because they reported fewer serious incidents. That list is also attached.
The other 49 states last year reported a total of 30 schools as “persistently dangerous.” States set their own criteria for identifying schools.
All schools designated as “persistently dangerous” must provide school choice to students where transfer options exist. Each school also receives a $100,000 grant to help improve school safety. School districts must also submit an Incident Reduction Plan for each school to show the specific steps that the district will take to reduce the number of violent incidents and improve safety at the school. Staff from the
A total of 51 schools reported 2005-2006 data that indicated they might be eligible for the list of “persistently dangerous” schools. They were asked to submit 2006-2007 data. Those data were evaluated, and 17 new schools were designated “persistently dangerous.”
Commissioner Mills also announced that the State Education Department is taking the following actions to ensure accuracy in reporting of violent and disruptive incidents:
· Monitoring and auditing of schools is ongoing. During the past year, the State Education Department conducted site visits to 100 schools to review reported data. The monitoring and site visits will continue this year.
· Priority for monitoring is given to those schools that are at-risk, schools that reported a large reduction in incidents, schools that reported zero incidents, and schools where staff or community members have alleged that improprieties exist.
· The purpose of the monitoring and site visits is to:
· Review violent and disruptive incident data reported by selected school districts,
· Provide technical assistance that will improve data reports for the fall,
· Identify what additional professional development is needed, and
· Identify further actions that can improve our reporting system.
· If as a result of the monitoring, any schools have underreported and should be on the list of “persistently dangerous” schools or the “watch list,” they are added.
· The State Education Department created a single, uniform training program and has provided extensive in-person regional training to school districts all over the state. Last year, over 1,600 staff from virtually all school districts were trained. Training sessions for school administrators are continuing now.
· Training covers the rules for reporting, answers questions about specific incidents, and explains how to make schools safer.
· Extensive explanatory materials are available on the web. Web-based training and written Question and Answer documents provide guidance that is constantly expanded as new questions are submitted.
· Districts report electronically, and the Department has streamlined Incident Reports to make them more user-friendly. Districts receive advice on web-based software to use for easier reporting.
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Seventeen Schools Newly Designated as Persistently Dangerous for 2007-08
| School | District |
| School 8 | |
| PS 14 | New York City Schools |
| PS 723 | New York City Schools |
| | New York City Schools |
| MS 399 | New York City Schools |
| PS 47 American Sign Language | New York City Schools |
| JHS 44 | New York City Schools |
| IS 49 Bertha Dreyfus | New York City Schools |
| MS 296 South | New York City Schools |
| PS 90 Edna Cohen | New York City Schools |
| MS 298 Academy for Public Relations | New York City Schools |
| MS 002 (District 17) | New York City Schools |
| | New York City Schools |
| MS 571 | New York City Schools |
| PS 368 | New York City Schools |
| PS 36 | New York City Schools |
| PS 169 | New York City Schools |
Ten Previously Named Schools Will Remain
On the List of Persistently Dangerous Schools
| School | District |
| Berkshire Junior-Senior high School | |
| PS 94 | New York City Schools |
| PS 811 | New York City Schools |
| PS 12 | New York City Schools |
| PS 17 | New York City Schools |
| PS 754 | New York City Schools |
| PS 140 | New York City Schools |
| PS 9 | New York City Schools |
| PS 752 | New York City Schools |
| | New York City Schools |
These schools have been removed from the list:
| School | District |
| Philip Livingston | |
| Thomas Jefferson | Rochester City Schools |
| | Rochester City Schools |
| JHS 78- Roy Mann | New York City Schools |
| PS 109 | New York City Schools |
| PS 370 Jim Thorpe | New York City Schools |
| PS 721 | New York City Schools |
| Hillside Hospital PS 23 ( | New York City Schools |
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