Table 16. Number and percentage distribution of students in public schools involved in the use or possession of a weapon other than a firearm or explosive device at school receiving various disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2007

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Table 16. Number and percentage distribution of students in public schools involved in the use or possession of a weapon other than a firearm or explosive device at school receiving various disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2007–08

	Disciplinary actions taken for students involved in the use or possession of a weapon¹ other than a firearm at school
	Removals with no continuing services for at least the remainder of the school year				Transfers to specialized schools²				Out-of-school suspen- sions lasting 5 or more days but less than the remain- der of the school year				Other disciplinary action³
School characteristic	Number of students		Percent of students		Number of students		Percent of students		Number of students		Percent of students		Number of students		Percent of students
All public schools	2,860		5		11,750		22		22,170		41		17,270		32

Level⁴
Primary	#		#		400		2		1,460		7		1,500		6
Middle	1,000		7		3,890		26		6,820		45		3,470		23
High school	1,640		8		5,990		30		8,820		44		3,680	!	18	!
Combined	‡		‡		‡		‡		810	!	35	!	1,000	!	43	!

Enrollment size
Less than 300	240	!	6	!	550	!	13	!	1,080	!	26	!	2,270	!	55
300–499	‡		‡		930		13		3,010	!	41		3,190		44
500–999	690		3		3,530		16		9,560		43		8,390		38
1,000 or more	1,760		9		6,740		33		8,520		42		3,430		17

Urbanicity
City	830		4		5,170		24		8,820		42		6,410		30
Suburb	860		6		3,350		24		5,790		42		3,880		28
Town	400	!	5	!	960		13	!	2,530		34		3,480	!	47
Rural	770	!	7	!	2,270		20		5,030		44		3,490		30

Crime level where students live⁵
High	‡		‡		2,090		23		3,690	!	40		2,770		30
Moderate	620		4		3,820		22		5,970		35		6,800		39
Low	990		5		3,420		18		8,940		47		5,820		30
Mixed	540		6	!	2,420		29		3,570		42		1,880		22

Percent of combined Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian/ Alaska Native students
Less than 5 percent	‡		‡		790	!	21		1,710	!	45		1,080		28	!
5 to less than 20 percent	560		6		1,390		16		3,700		42		3,250		36
20 to less than 50 percent	‡		‡		3,910		27		6,480		45		3,210		22
50 percent or more	1,350		5		5,660		21		10,280		38		9,730		36

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	460		6		1,460		18		4,380		52		2,050		24
21–50 percent	1,410		8		4,240		23		6,900		37		6,260		33
More than 50 percent	990		4		6,040		22		10,880		40		8,960		33

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	490		4		2,290		20		5,140		45		3,560		31
6–15 percent	1,070		5		4,510		23		8,170		42		5,910		30
More than 15 percent	1,300	!	6	!	4,950		22		8,850		39		7,800		34

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	630	!	4	!	3,840		23		6,800		40		5,580		33
36–60 percent	780		5		2,950		19		6,190		39		5,760		37
More than 60 percent	1,450		7		4,960		23		9,180		43		5,930		28

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	‡		‡		1,340		29		1,240		27		1,390	!	30	!
26–50 percent	710		4		2,710		16		6,410		39		6,600		40
51–75 percent	620		4		4,130		25		7,000		43		4,640		28
More than 75 percent	910		5		3,570		21		7,510		45		4,650		28

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	230	!	6	!	600	!	15	!	2,400	!	60		800		20	!
45–55 percent	2,400		5		10,000		22		18,410		40		14,880		33
More than 55 percent	240	!	5	!	1,140		26	!	1,350	!	31		1,590	!	37

Student-to-FTE ratio⁶
Less than 12 students	890		5		4,330		23		6,770		36		6,700		36
12–16 students	930		4		4,410		21		9,840		46		6,260		29
More than 16 students	1,040	!	7	!	3,010		22		5,560		40		4,310	!	31

Number of classroom changes⁷
0–3 changes	‡		‡		620	!	9		2,960	!	44		3,130		46
4–6 changes	1,300		5		6,010		24		10,860		43		7,130		28
More than 6 changes	1,520		7		5,120		23		8,350		38		7,000		32

Regular use of law enforcement⁸
Regular use	2,650		6		10,030		25		16,980		41		11,290		28
No regular use	210	!	2	!	1,720		13		5,190		40		5,980		46

Number of serious discipline problems⁹
No problems	1,520		7		5,130		23		7,800		36		7,410		34
1 problem	610		3		3,270		18		7,890		44		6,120	!	34
2 problems	‡		‡		1,490		22		3,220		47		2,010		30
3 or more problems	670		9		1,860		25		3,260		43		1,720	!	23

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment¹⁰
Less than 6 percent	970	!	15	!	1,160		17		2,340		35		2,240		33
6 to less than 11 percent	460	!	5	!	2,150		25		3,810		44		2,170	!	25
11 to less than 21 percent	800		4		3,610		19		9,060		48		5,550	!	29
21 percent or more	630		3		4,830		24		6,960		35		7,300		37

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions¹¹
No disruptions	2,140		5		10,020		21		19,090		41		15,520		33
Any disruptions	‡		‡		1,730		24		3,080		42		1,750		24

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	170	!	8	!	‡		19	!	800	!	37		800	!	37	!
3–5 percent	870		4		4,300		20		8,320		38		8,500		39
6–10 percent	1,560		7		5,500		23		10,110		43		6,360		27
More than 10 percent	260		4	!	1,550		24		2,940		46		1,610		25

Prevalence of violent incidents¹²
No violent incidents	‡		‡		220	!	‡		380	!	26	!	800	!	54
Any violent incidents	2,780		5		11,520		22		21,780		41		16,470		31
#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 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."
² Specialized school was defined for respondents as "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons, although the school may also have students who were referred for other reasons. The school may be at the same location as your school."
³ Other disciplinary actions include suspension less than 5 days, detention, etc.
⁴ 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.
⁵ 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."
⁶ 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.
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 2007–08 school year, did you have any security guards, security personnel, or sworn law enforcement officers present at your school at least once a week?"
⁹ Serious discipline problems include student racial/ethnic tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse, 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 or attempted 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: "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. The number of incidents, students, or disciplinary actions reported for a specified offense will not always be equal. This may be because a single incident could involve multiple students or because no disciplinary action is taken for an incident. Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2007–08 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2008.

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