Table 5. Number and percentage of public 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 2005

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Table 5. Number and percentage of public 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 2005–06

	Possession of a firearm or explosive device¹								Possession of a knife or sharp object
School characteristic	Num- ber of schools		Per- cent of schools		Num- ber of incidents		Rate per 1000 students		Num- of schools	Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents	Rate per 1000 students
All public schools	5,980		7		12,320		#		35,600	43	90,000	2

Level²
Primary	2,400		5		5,960	!	#		16,010	33	30,220	1
Middle	1,270		8		2,800		#		9,380	60	27,090	3
High school	1,680		14		2,770		#		7,610	65	27,580	2
Combined	640	!	9	!	800		#		2,610	35	5,120	2

Enrollment size
Less than 300	470	!	2	!	‡		‡		5,170	25	9,390	2
300–499	1,080		5		1,140		#		8,720	37	15,760	2
500–999	2,750		9		5,750		#		14,640	50	36,010	2
1,000 or more	1,680		18		3,670		#		7,070	76	28,840	2

Urbanicity
City	2,150		10		6,300		#		9,950	47	30,790	2
Urban fringe	2,110		8		3,800		#		12,130	44	30,590	2
Town	470		6		680		#		3,910	48	8,770	2
Rural	1,250		5		1,530		#		9,610	36	19,850	2

Crime level where students live³
High	1,250		19		2,940	!	1	!	3,440	53	12,680	3
Moderate	1,730		11		3,720		#		8,240	52	23,710	2
Low	1,960		4		2,800		#		18,680	37	40,000	1
Mixed	1,040		10		2,860	!	#		5,240	50	13,610	2

Percent minority enrollment⁴
Less than 5 percent	530		3		630		#		5,680	34	10,750	2
5 to 20 percent	930		5		1,270		#		7,980	39	18,050	2
20 to 50 percent	1,040		6		1,640		#		8,720	47	21,660	2
50 percent or more	3,260		13		8,460		#		11,990	47	36,270	2

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	880		5		1,230		#		6,780	35	14,500	1
21–50 percent	1,740		6		2,980		#		12,350	45	32,050	2
More than 50 percent	3,360		9		8,120		#		16,470	45	43,450	2

Percent of students below 15th per- centile on stan- dardized tests
0–5 percent	1,090		4		1,570		#		10,130	34	21,570	1
6–15 percent	2,120		6		4,270	!	#		14,340	44	34,270	2
More than 15 percent	2,780		13		6,480		#		11,140	53	34,160	3

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	2,600		11		6,440		1		11,750	52	32,410	3
36–60 percent	1,650		7		3,160		#		11,220	45	29,030	2
More than 60 percent	1,730		5		2,710		#		12,640	35	28,570	1

Percent of students who consider academic achieve- ment important
0–25 percent	660		11		930		#		3,230	56	9,840	3
26–50 percent	1,470		9		4,410	!	1	!	7,780	49	21,260	3
51–75 percent	1,890		8		3,090		#		11,710	48	29,810	2
More than 75 percent	1,970		5		3,890		#		12,890	35	29,100	1

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	390		7		500		#		2,240	40	5,800	2
45–55 percent	4,940		7		8,610		#		30,350	44	75,210	2
More than 55 percent	650		7		‡		1	!	3,010	32	8,990	2

Student-to-FTE ratio⁵
Less than 12 students	2,470		6		4,890	!	#		15,320	36	34,010	2
12–16 students	1,980		7		3,250		#		12,980	48	34,110	2
More than 16 students	1,530		11		4,180		#		7,300	52	21,890	2

Number of class- room changes⁶
0–3 changes	1,070		5		3,350	!	#		7,230	32	13,880	1
4–6 changes	3,180		9		6,330		#		16,330	45	43,230	2
More than 6 changes	1,740		7		2,650		#		12,050	48	32,890	2

Regular use of law enforcement⁷
Regular use	4,000		12		9,320		#		20,220	58	61,180	2
No regular use	1,980		4		3,000		#		15,390	32	28,820	1

Number of serious discipline pro- blems⁸
No problems	2,740		5		5,290		#		18,620	33	40,120	1
1 problem	1,250		9		2,760	!	#		7,420	57	19,280	2
2 problems	870		13		1,450		#		4,690	67	14,080	3
3 or more problems	1,120		17		2,820	!	1	!	4,870	72	16,520	3

Transfers as a per- centage of enroll- ment⁹
0 to 6 percent	690		4		1,230		#		5,170	33	11,030	1
6 to 11 percent	1,040		6		2,240	!	#		7,640	43	16,770	2
11 to 21 percent	1,680		8		2,810		#		9,480	42	24,320	2
21 percent or more	2,580		9		6,050		#		13,310	49	37,880	2

Prevalence of school- wide disruptions¹⁰
No disruptions	840		15		1,970	!	#		3,170	58	11,430	3
Any disruptions	5,150		7		10,360		#		32,440	42	78,570	2

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	‡		‡		‡		‡		2,930	34	5,620	1
3–5 percent	2,440		6		3,830		#		17,890	41	39,770	2
6–10 percent	2,330		9		5,130		#		11,860	48	33,710	2
More than 10 percent	850		13		1,300		#		2,930	45	10,900	3
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is from 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimate’s value.
‡ Reporting standards not met. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value.
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 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.
³ 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."
⁴ Responding schools that did not have race/ethnicity on the sampling frame (2 percent of schools) are excluded from the base.
⁵ Student-to-FTE 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.
⁶ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁷ Respondents were asked, "During the 2005–2006 school year, did you have any sworn law enforcement officers, security guards, or security personnel present at your school at least once a week?"
⁸ 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.
⁹ 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.
¹⁰ 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 happening 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. 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 (NCES), 2005–06 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2006.

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