Table 15. Number of students involved in the use or possession of a firearm or explosive device at school, and the number and percentage of students receiving various disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003

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Table 15. Number of students involved in the use or possession of a firearm or explosive device at school, and the number and percentage of students receiving various disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04

School characteristic		Disciplinary actions taken for students involved in the use or possession of a firearm or explosive device at school
	Total students involved in recorded offenses	Removals without continuing services		Transfers to specialized schools¹		Out-of-school suspensions lasting 5 or more days		Other disciplinary action²
	Number	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All public schools	24,821	1,138	5	2,148	9	6,564	27	14,861	60

Level³
Primary	3,066	164	5	443	14	792	26	1,668	54
Middle	2,259	294	13	514	23	834	38	563	26
High school	18,967	504	3	921	5	4,879	26	12,608	67
Combined	529	177	33	270	51	59	11	23	4

Enrollment size
Less than 300	17,249	127	1	254	1	4,259	25	12,609	73
300–499	657	72	11	90	14	255	40	224	35
500–999	4,012	583	15	801	20	1,098	28	1,484	37
1,000 or more	2,902	357	12	1,003	35	952	33	545	19

Urbanicity
City	2,955	292	10	965	33	1,051	36	612	21
Urban fringe	16,746	496	3	583	3	4,965	30	10,673	64
Town	2,980	229	8	127	4	87	3	2,522	85
Rural	2,139	122	6	473	22	462	22	1,055	50

Crime level where students live⁴
High	1,359	60	4	356	26	602	45	331	25
Moderate	4,499	442	10	585	13	459	10	3,013	67
Low	17,610	396	2	888	5	5,082	29	11,155	64
Mixed	1,353	241	18	320	24	421	31	364	27

Percent minority enrollment⁵
Less than 5 percent	1,037	27	3	118	11	186	18	706	68
5 to 20 percent	18,189	419	2	558	3	4,524	25	12,633	70
20 to 50 percent	1,698	195	12	221	13	571	34	686	41
50 percent or more	3,799	459	12	1,240	33	1,256	33	816	22

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	15,162	103	1	356	2	4,551	30	10,078	67
21–50 percent	3,291	576	17	778	24	689	21	1,248	38
More than 50 percent	6,367	459	7	1,014	16	1,324	21	3,535	56

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	880	195	22	212	24	238	27	236	27
6–15 percent	18,050	266	1	913	5	5,212	29	11,605	64
More than 15 percent	5,890	678	12	1,023	18	1,115	19	3,021	52

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	6,374	590	9	750	12	1,166	18	3,823	60
36–60 percent	2,203	280	13	569	27	589	28	702	33
More than 60 percent	16,244	268	2	829	5	4,810	30	10,336	64

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	1,345	436	33	449	34	383	29	42	3
26–50 percent	1,816	222	12	463	26	614	34	509	28
51–75 percent	2,131	309	14	496	23	592	28	734	34
More than 75 percent	19,528	171	1	740	4	4,976	26	13,575	70

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	978	290	30	259	27	274	29	136	14
45–55 percent	9,328	821	9	1,787	19	1,887	20	4,743	51
More than 55 percent	14,515	28	#	102	1	4,404	30	9,982	69

Student-to-teacher ratio⁶
Less than 12 students	4,089	294	7	399	10	575	14	2,811	69
12–16 students	17,977	480	3	924	5	5,190	29	11,336	63
More than 16 students	2,754	364	13	825	31	800	30	714	26

Number of classroom changes⁷
0–3 changes	927	56	6	92	10	284	31	479	53
4–6 changes	6,705	508	8	1,024	15	1,147	17	3,989	60
More than 6 changes	17,189	574	3	1,032	6	5,133	30	10,394	61

Regular use of law enforcement⁸
Regular use	22,883	670	3	1,448	6	6,154	27	14,562	64
No regular use	1,937	468	25	700	37	410	22	299	16

Number of serious discipline problems⁹
No problems	5,973	331	6	751	13	920	16	3,892	66
1 problem	1,870	374	20	502	27	441	24	522	28
2 problems	1,293	202	16	461	36	441	34	189	15
3 or more problems	15,684	230	1	433	3	4,762	30	10,258	65

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment¹⁰
0 to 6 percent	1,151	210	19	328	29	327	29	248	22
6 to 11 percent	1,410	186	13	450	33	296	21	450	33
11 to 21 percent	19,900	439	2	788	4	5,131	26	13,524	68
21 percent or more	2,360	303	13	582	25	811	35	639	27

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions¹¹
No disruptions	23,848	1,022	4	1,947	8	5,965	25	14,805	62
Any disruptions	972	116	12	201	21	599	62	56	6

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	2,907	6	#	133	5	156	5	2,613	90
3–5 percent	4,035	343	9	803	20	810	20	2,000	51
6–10 percent	17,367	665	4	947	5	5,530	32	10,195	59
More than 10 percent	511	124	24	265	52	69	13	53	10

Prevalence of violent incidents¹²
No violent incidents	41	14	35	11	26	16	40	#	#
Any violent incidents	24,779	1,124	5	2,138	9	6,548	27	14,861	60
# Rounds to zero.
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 Other disciplinary actions include suspension less than 5 days, detention, etc.
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.
⁴ 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."
⁵ These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
⁶ Student-to-teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of full-time-equivalent 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.
⁷ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁸ 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?"
⁹ 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.
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ 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.
¹² 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: The numbers of students involved in offenses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about discipline issues at the school. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Reponses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.

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