Table 18. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for use of a weapon other than a firearm in public elementary schools, by selected school characteristics: 1999

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Table 18. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for use of a weapon other than a firearm 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	5,340	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,550	29	2,817	53	#	#

Enrollment size
Less than 300	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
300–499	1,566	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	594	38	#	#
500–999	3,044	#	#	‡	‡	1,151	38	1,715	56	#	#
1,000 or more	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†

Urbanicity
City	1,828	‡	‡	‡	‡	409	22	556	30	#	#
Urban fringe	2,506	#	#	#	#	783	31	1,723	69	#	#
Town	716	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
Rural	290	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Crime level where students live²
High	249	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#	#	#
Moderate	1,437	‡	‡	#	#	606	42	723	50	#	#
Low	2,614	‡	‡	#	#	873	33	1,055	40	#	#
Mixed	966	#	#	#	#	#	#	966	100	#	#

Percent minority enrollment²
0–5 percent	1,134	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	1,025	90	#	#
6–20 percent	1,790	‡	‡	#	#	446	25	658	37	#	#
21–50 percent	639	#	#	#	#	639	100	#	#	#	#
More than 50 percent	1,777	‡	‡	‡	‡	356	20	1,134	64	#	#

Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	707	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
21–50 percent	2,078	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	1,204	58	#	#
More than 50 percent	2,555	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,254	49	1,015	40	#	#

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	1,178	‡	‡	#	#	384	33	#	#	#	#
6–15 percent	2,372	#	#	#	#	393	17	1,979	83	#	#
More than 15 percent	1,789	#	#	‡	‡	773	43	838	47	#	#

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	1,480	‡	‡	‡	‡	961	65	‡	‡	#	#
36–60 percent	3,860	‡	‡	#	#	589	15	2,586	67	#	#
More than 60 percent	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†
26–50 percent	1,699	‡	‡	#	#	675	40	338	20	#	#
51–75 percent	1,795	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,556	87	#	#
More than 75 percent	1,846	‡	‡	‡	‡	695	38	924	50	#	#

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#
45–55 percent	5,083	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,456	29	2,654	52	#	#
More than 55 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Student/teacher ratio²,³
Less than 12	1,710	#	#	#	#	827	48	884	52	#	#
12–16	2,028	‡	‡	‡	‡	488	24	1,313	65	#	#
More than 16	1,528	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	547	36	#	#

Number of classroom changes²
0–3 changes	2,239	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	1,282	57	#	#
4–6 changes	2,163	#	#	‡	‡	1,126	52	859	40	#	#
More than 6 changes	865	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Use of paid law enforcement⁴
Regular use	1,660	‡	‡	‡	‡	345	21	1,146	69	#	#
No regular use	3,680	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,204	33	1,671	45	#	#

Number of serious discipline problems⁵
No problems	2,717	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,205	44	658	24	#	#
1 problem	1,746	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	1,651	95	#	#
2 problems	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
3 or more problems	714	#	#	‡	‡	250	35	#	#	#	#

Transfers as percentage of enrollment²,⁶
0 to 6 percent	591	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
6 to 11 percent	1,522	#	#	#	#	688	45	834	55	#	#
11 to 21 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#
21 percent or more	2,932	‡	‡	‡	‡	532	18	1,427	49	#	#

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions²,⁷
No disruptions	4,096	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,396	34	2,472	60	‡	‡
Any disruptions	490	314	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Percent of students absent without excuses
None	‡	#	#	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#
1–2 percent	2,737	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,974	72	#	#
3–5 percent	1,500	‡	‡	#	#	740	49	‡	‡	#	#
6–10 percent	470	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
More than 10 percent	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	#	#	#	#

Prevalence of violent incidents²,⁸
No violent incidents	1,055	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#
Any violent incidents	4,285	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,123	26	2,189	51	#	#
† 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. "Weapon" was defined for respondents as, "any instrument or object used with the intent to threaten, injure, or kill. Includes look-alikes if they are used to threaten others." "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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