Table 5. Number and percentage of public primary schools reporting incidents of possession of a firearm or explosive device or possession of a knife or sharp object at school, the number of incidents, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

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Table 5. Number and percentage of public primary schools reporting incidents of possession of a firearm or explosive device or possession of a knife or sharp object at school, the number of incidents, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04

School characteristic	Possession of a firearm or explosive device¹				Possession of a knife or sharp object
School characteristic	Number of schools	Percent of schools	Number of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students	Number of schools	Percent of schools	Number of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students
All public schools	1,777	4	2,220	0	5,412	11	8,606	0

Enrollment size
Less than 300	213	2	213	0	1,157	9	1,364	1
300–499	569	3	649	0	1,650	10	2,028	0
500–999	910	5	1,231	0	2,301	13	4,571	0
1,000 or more	85	6	126	0	304	22	643	0

Urbanicity
City	985	7	1,122	0	1,966	14	2,945	0
Urban fringe	517	3	783	0	1,586	9	2,702	0
Town	#	#	#	#	882	17	1,552	1
Rural	274	2	315	0	978	7	1,407	0

Crime level where students live²
High	533	13	647	0	781	19	1,601	1
Moderate	614	7	794	0	1,450	16	2,106	1
Low	523	2	673	0	1,904	7	2,889	0
Mixed	106	2	106	#	1,277	20	2,010	1

Percent minority enrollment³
Less than 5 percent	41	#	81	#	978	11	1,224	0
5 to 20 percent	55	#	164	#	851	7	1,430	0
20 to 50 percent	704	6	825	0	1,352	12	2,205	0
50 percent or more	977	6	1,149	0	2,178	14	3,694	0

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	58	1	58	#	521	5	919	0
21–50 percent	337	2	486	0	1,803	11	2,627	0
More than 50 percent	1,382	6	1,675	0	3,087	14	5,060	1

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	70	#	70	#	1,185	8	1,841	0
6–15 percent	1,018	5	1,173	0	2,097	10	3,249	0
More than 15 percent	688	5	977	0	2,130	16	3,516	1

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	988	6	1,390	0	2,472	15	4,199	1
36–60 percent	581	4	621	0	1,656	12	2,427	0
More than 60 percent	208	1	208	#	1,284	7	1,979	0

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	276	7	499	0	690	17	1,150	1
26–50 percent	454	4	495	0	1,543	15	2,762	1
51–75 percent	606	5	687	0	1,332	10	2,292	0
More than 75 percent	441	2	539	0	1,847	9	2,402	0

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	191	6	300	0	462	15	626	1
45–55 percent	1,269	3	1,424	0	4,311	11	6,407	0
More than 55 percent	316	5	495	0	639	10	1,572	1

Student-to-teacher ratio⁴
Less than 12 students	536	3	674	0	2,392	11	3,959	1
12–16 students	634	3	771	0	2,219	12	3,645	0
More than 16 students	607	7	774	0	801	9	1,002	0

Number of classroom changes⁵
0–3 changes	773	4	912	0	2,114	11	3,140	0
4–6 changes	720	3	819	0	2,592	11	4,301	0
More than 6 changes	283	5	489	0	706	13	1,165	1
	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Regular use of law enforcement⁶
Regular use	1,053	6	1,387	0	2,615	16	4,636	1
No regular use	724	2	833	0	2,797	9	3,970	0

Number of serious discipline problems⁷
No problems	818	2	1,094	0	2,722	8	4,118	0
1 problem	420	5	529	0	1,621	19	2,520	1
2 problems	246	7	246	0	336	9	609	0
3 or more problems	292	13	351	0	733	32	1,359	1

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁸
0 to 6 percent	58	1	116	#	569	7	767	0
6 to 11 percent	199	2	240	#	667	6	959	0
11 to 21 percent	440	3	646	0	1,567	11	2,382	0
21 percent or more	1,079	7	1,218	0	2,609	17	4,499	1

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁹
No disruptions	1,559	3	1,947	0	5,099	11	7,824	0
Any disruptions	217	14	273	0	313	20	782	1

Percent of students absent on a daily basis

0–2 percent	#	#	#	#	367	7	514	0
3–5 percent	1,187	4	1,327	0	2,969	10	4,613	0
6–10 percent	589	5	893	0	1,980	17	3,382	1
More than 10 percent	#	#	#	#	97	5	97	0
# Rounds to zero.
¹ Firearm or explosive device was defined 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."
² Respondents were asked, "How would you describe the crime level in the area(s) in which your students live?" Response options included "high level of crime," "moderate level of crime," "low level of crime," and "students come from areas with very different levels of crime."
³ These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
⁴ Student-to-teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of teachers and aides. The total number of full-time- equivalent teachers and aides is a combination of the full-time and part-time teachers and aides, including special education teachers and aides, with an adjustment to compensate for the part-time status.
⁵ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁶ Respondents were asked, "During the 2003–2004 school year, did you have any sworn law enforcement officers, security guards, or security personnel present at your school on a regular basis?"
⁷ Serious discipline problems include student racial tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, student acts of disrespect for teachers, gang activities, and cult or extremist group activities. If a respondent 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.
⁸ 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.
⁹ Schoolwide disruptions include actions that disrupted school activities such as death threats, bomb threats, and chemical, biological, or radiological threats. Respondents were instructed to exclude all fire alarms, including false alarms.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.

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