Table 17. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for possession of a firearm/explosive device in public elementary schools, by selected school characteristics: 1999

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Table 17. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for possession of a firearm/explosive device in public elementary schools, by selected school characteristics: 1999–2000

School characteristic	Total offenses		Removals		Transfers to specialized schools¹		Out-of-school suspensions		Other		No disciplinary action
School characteristic	Number	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All public elementary schools	1,642	‡	‡	#	#	995	61	552	34	#	#

Enrollment size
Less than 300	‡	‡	‡	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#
300–499	675	#	#	#	#	482	71	‡	‡	#	#
500–999	860	‡	‡	#	#	514	60	261	30	#	#
1,000 or more	‡	#	#	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#

Urbanicity
City	337	#	#	#	#	337	100	#	#	#	#
Urban fringe	915	‡	‡	#	#	351	38	479	52	#	#
Town	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†
Rural	390	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Crime level where students live²
High	366	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	202	55	#	#
Moderate	682	‡	‡	#	#	512	75	‡	‡	#	#
Low	514	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	265	52	#	#
Mixed	‡	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#

Percent minority enrollment²
0–5 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#
6–20 percent	416	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
21–50 percent	594	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	244	41	#	#
More than 50 percent	544	#	#	#	#	344	63	200	37	#	#

Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
21–50 percent	253	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
More than 50 percent	1,058	#	#	#	#	687	65	371	35	#	#

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†
6–15 percent	817	‡	‡	#	#	573	70	‡	‡	#	#
More than 15 percent	824	‡	‡	#	#	422	51	393	48	#	#

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	1,029	#	#	#	#	585	57	444	43	#	#
36–60 percent	586	‡	‡	#	#	384	66	‡	‡	#	#
More than 60 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	232	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
26–50 percent	872	‡	‡	#	#	496	57	291	33	#	#
51–75 percent	360	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
More than 75 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	232	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
45–55 percent	1,410	‡	‡	#	#	849	60	467	33	#	#
More than 55 percent	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†

Student/teacher ratio²,³
Less than 12	367	#	#	#	#	282	77	‡	‡	#	#
12–16	609	#	#	#	#	482	79	‡	‡	#	#
More than 16	666	‡	‡	#	#	232	35	340	51	#	#

Number of classroom changes²
0–3 changes	234	#	#	#	#	234	100	#	#	#	#
4–6 changes	1,023	#	#	#	#	555	54	469	46	#	#
More than 6 changes	384	‡	‡	#	#	206	54	‡	‡	#	#

Use of paid law enforcement⁴
Regular use	818	‡	‡	#	#	428	52	381	47	#	#
No regular use	824	‡	‡	#	#	567	69	‡	‡	#	#

Number of serious discipline problems⁵
No problems	895	‡	‡	#	#	546	61	340	38	#	#
1 problem	‡	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#
2 problems	197	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
3 or more problems	285	#	#	#	#	199	70	‡	‡	#	#

Transfers as percentage of enrollment²,⁶
0 to 6 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#
6 to 11 percent	187	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	83	45	#	#
11 to 21 percent	179	#	#	#	#	179	100	#	#	#	#
21 percent or more	797	‡	‡	#	#	328	41	383	48	#	#

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions²,⁷
No disruptions	1,487	‡	‡	#	#	840	57	552	37	#	#
Any disruptions	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#

Percent of students absent without excuses
None	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†
1–2 percent	571	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	178	31	#	#
3–5 percent	624	‡	‡	#	#	250	40	289	46	#	#
6–10 percent	291	‡	‡	#	#	282	97	#	#	#	#
More than 10 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Prevalence of violent incidents²,⁸
No violent incidents	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#
Any violent incidents	1,419	‡	‡	#	#	773	54	552	39	#	#
† Not applicable
# Rounds to zero.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
¹ Specialized school was defined for respondents as, "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons. The school may also have students who were referred for other reasons. The school may be at the same location as your school."
² Some schools are omitted from these categories because of missing data on their school characteristics. For this reason, the detailed results do not sum to the totals. See appendix J of 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) Detailed Data Documentation (NCES 2004-307) for further information.
³ Student/teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. The total number of full-time equivalent teachers is a combination of the full-time and part-time teachers, including special education teachers, with an adjustment to compensate for the part-time status.
⁴ Schools were included as regularly using paid law enforcement if they reported the use of paid law enforcement during any of the following times: at any time during school hours, while students were arriving or leaving, at selected school activities (e.g., athletic and social events, open houses, science fairs), or at any other time that the respondent specified.
⁵ Serious discipline problems is a count of discipline problems reported by principals. These discipline problems include student racial tensions, student bullying, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, and student acts of disrespect for teachers. If a principal reported that any of these problems occurred daily or weekly in their school, each was counted once in the total number of serious discipline problems. Undesirable gang activities and undesirable cult or extremist group activities were also counted once as a problem if the principal reported that these events occurred at all in their school.
⁶ Transfers as a percentage of enrollment combines the number of students who were transferred to a school and the number of students who were transferred from a school, divided by the total number of students enrolled in the school.
⁷ Schoolwide disruptions include actions that disrupted school activities such as bomb threats or anthrax threats. Respondents were instructed to exclude all fire alarms, including false alarms.
⁸ Violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. "At school/at your school" was defined for respondents as including activities happening in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that are holding school-sponsored events or activities. Respondents were instructed to, unless the survey specified otherwise, only respond for those times that were during normal school hours or when school activities/events were in session. "Firearm/explosive device" was defined for respondents as, "any weapon that is designed to (or may readily be converted to) expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. This includes guns, bombs, grenades, mines, rockets, missiles, pipe bombs, or similar devices designed to explode and capable of causing bodily harm or property damage." A gang was defined for respondents as, "an ongoing loosely organized association of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, that has a common name, signs, symbols or colors, whose members engage, either individually or collectively, in violent or other forms of illegal behavior." Elementary schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not higher than grade 3 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 8.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2000.

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