Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 233.70. Percentage of public schools with one or more full-time or part-time security staff present at least once a week, by selected school characteristics: 2005-06 through 2013-14
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
School characteristic Percent with one or more security guards, security personnel, School Resource Officers (SROs),
or sworn law enforcement officers who are not SROs1
Total Full-time Part-time only
2005-06 2007-08 2009-10 2013-142 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10 2013-142 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10 2013-142
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
All public schools 41.7 (1.28) 46.3 (1.29) 42.8 (1.07) 43.0 (1.48) 27.0 (0.88) 30.4 (0.98) 28.7 (0.97) 23.7   (1.10) 14.6 (1.06) 15.9   (0.89) 14.1 (0.66) 19.3 (1.18)
                                                     
School level3                                                    
Primary 26.2 (1.87) 33.1 (2.04) 27.7 (1.50) 28.6 (2.15) 12.5 (1.32) 17.8 (1.37) 15.7 (1.43) 10.4   (1.46) 13.7 (1.59) 15.3   (1.31) 12.1 (0.89) 18.2 (1.73)
Middle 63.7 (1.30) 65.5 (1.59) 66.4 (1.45) 63.3 (2.15) 44.5 (1.17) 44.9 (1.55) 45.8 (1.39) 36.9   (2.21) 19.2 (1.18) 20.7   (1.17) 20.6 (1.32) 26.4 (2.17)
High school/combined (†) (†) (†) 64.1 (2.44) (†) (†) (†) 48.1   (2.25) (†)   (†) (†) 16.1 (1.98)
High school 75.2 (1.66) 79.6 (1.47) 76.4 (1.45) (†) 64.0 (1.53) 66.1 (1.48) 62.0 (1.56)   (†) 11.2 (1.14) 13.5   (1.42) 14.5 (1.50) (†)
Combined 43.5 (5.25) 39.9 (5.59) 36.6 (4.89) (†) 26.8 (4.44) 26.2 (4.79) 24.0 (4.49)   (†) 16.7 (4.13) 13.6 ! (4.15) 12.7 (3.56) (†)
                                                     
Enrollment size                                                    
Less than 300 22.7 (2.65) 27.6 (2.55) 25.6 (2.91) 21.7 (3.05) 10.8 (1.58) 15.1 (2.09) 15.1 (2.29) 6.8   (1.72) 11.9 (2.07) 12.5   (2.07) 10.5 (2.20) 14.9 (2.81)
300-499 29.8 (2.29) 36.1 (2.66) 33.5 (2.26) 35.4 (2.90) 16.7 (1.93) 19.4 (1.84) 18.0 (1.96) 15.4   (2.12) 13.0 (1.64) 16.8   (2.05) 15.5 (1.76) 20.0 (2.28)
500-999 50.5 (1.90) 52.7 (1.99) 47.3 (1.60) 50.6 (2.37) 31.0 (1.27) 34.0 (1.52) 31.2 (1.34) 26.4   (1.79) 19.5 (1.62) 18.8   (1.53) 16.1 (1.08) 24.2 (1.91)
1,000 or more 86.9 (1.39) 90.6 (1.59) 90.0 (1.37) 87.2 (2.27) 77.3 (1.61) 79.5 (1.65) 79.3 (1.82) 77.5   (2.66) 9.7 (1.40) 11.1   (1.83) 10.7 (1.50) 9.8 (2.06)
                                                     
Locale                                                    
City 49.1 (2.57) 57.3 (3.05) 50.9 (2.51) 45.5 (3.13) 37.7 (2.04) 45.3 (2.24) 39.7 (2.19) 35.0   (2.71) 11.4 (1.59) 12.0   (1.97) 11.2 (1.69) 10.4 (2.13)
Suburb 42.7 (1.67) 45.4 (2.08) 45.4 (1.90) 47.7 (2.70) 27.1 (1.41) 30.0 (1.64) 31.3 (1.58) 26.2   (1.97) 15.6 (1.44) 15.4   (1.59) 14.1 (1.50) 21.5 (2.23)
Town 44.4 (3.86) 51.1 (3.50) 39.0 (3.11) 48.0 (4.08) 26.3 (2.88) 26.9 (2.32) 21.2 (2.15) 18.4   (2.63) 18.1 (2.90) 24.2   (2.75) 17.8 (2.39) 29.6 (3.88)
Rural 33.8 (1.87) 36.0 (1.98) 35.2 (2.20) 35.5 (2.33) 18.6 (1.39) 20.2 (1.67) 20.5 (1.83) 15.3   (1.42) 15.2 (1.87) 15.7   (1.70) 14.7 (1.51) 20.2 (2.26)
                                                     
Percent combined enrollment of Black,
      Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and
      American Indian/Alaska Native students
                                                   
Less than 5 percent 28.3 (1.96) 35.6 (3.23) 30.4 (2.69) 35.6 (5.44) 12.4 (1.60) 16.9 (2.70) 13.6 (2.41) 8.7 ! (2.72) 16.0 (1.81) 18.7   (2.56) 16.8 (2.51) 26.9 (5.40)
5 percent to less than 20 percent 38.9 (2.54) 42.9 (2.19) 36.5 (2.91) 34.9 (2.93) 23.9 (1.73) 23.1 (1.63) 19.9 (2.26) 13.7   (1.66) 15.0 (1.98) 19.9   (1.93) 16.6 (1.71) 21.2 (2.41)
20 percent to less than 50 percent 41.6 (2.32) 44.7 (2.76) 41.9 (1.93) 46.7 (3.26) 28.3 (1.94) 29.1 (2.21) 27.8 (1.69) 25.3   (2.28) 13.3 (1.75) 15.5   (1.93) 14.1 (1.50) 21.5 (2.48)
50 percent or more 51.3 (2.46) 55.4 (2.71) 52.5 (2.04) 48.0 (2.24) 37.3 (1.91) 43.8 (2.16) 41.3 (2.09) 33.3   (2.09) 14.0 (1.81) 11.6   (1.68) 11.2 (1.33) 14.6 (1.73)
                                                     
Percent of students eligible for free or
      reduced-price lunch4
                                                   
0-25 37.9 (2.14) 46.5 (2.33) 39.2 (2.44) 41.6 (3.81) 24.9 (1.70) 29.7 (2.01) 27.9 (2.17) 21.0   (2.20) 13.0 (1.33) 16.8   (1.52) 11.3 (1.21) 20.6 (3.01)
26-50 42.1 (2.08) 40.8 (2.52) 40.0 (1.68) 39.6 (3.10) 26.4 (1.63) 24.2 (2.01) 21.5 (1.52) 17.7   (1.87) 15.7 (2.01) 16.6   (1.65) 18.5 (1.37) 21.8 (2.64)
51-75 39.3 (2.21) 46.1 (2.83) 42.3 (2.60) 44.4 (2.71) 25.7 (1.85) 29.7 (2.34) 29.0 (2.04) 24.3   (2.00) 13.7 (1.90) 16.4   (2.34) 13.3 (1.45) 20.2 (2.38)
76-100 49.8 (2.73) 55.0 (3.68) 49.8 (2.76) 45.8 (3.24) 33.0 (2.49) 42.1 (3.17) 37.6 (2.66) 31.3   (2.86) 16.8 (2.07) 12.9   (2.17) 12.2 (1.84) 14.6 (2.37)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
1 "Security guards" and "security personnel" do not include law enforcement. School Resource Officers include all career law enforcement officers with arrest authority who have specialized training and are assigned to work in collaboration with school organizations.
2 Data for 2013-14 were collected using the Fast Response Survey System, while data for earlier years were collected using the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS). The 2013-14 survey was designed to allow comparisons with SSOCS data. However, respondents to the 2013-14 survey could choose either to complete the survey on paper (and mail it back) or to complete the survey online, whereas respondents to SSOCS did not have the option of completing the survey online. The 2013-14 survey also relied on a smaller sample. The smaller sample size and change in survey administration may have impacted 2013-14 results.
3 Primary 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. Middle schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 4 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 9. High schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 9 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 12. Combined schools include all other combinations of grades, including K-12 schools. Separate data on high schools and combined schools are not available for 2013-14.
4 For 2013-14, the questionnaire did not include a question about the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, so the classification of schools by the percentage of eligible students was computed based on data obtained from the Common Core of Data.
NOTE: Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2005-06, 2007-08, and 2009-10 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2006, 2008, and 2010; Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), "School Safety and Discipline: 2013-14," FRSS 106, 2014; and Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2013-14. (This table was prepared September 2015.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest