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Table 26.2  Percentage of public schools that monitored campus in specified ways, by selected school characteristics: School year 2015–16

School characteristic Have “panic button(s)” or silent alarm(s) that directly connect to law enforcement in the event of an incident1   Provide an electronic notification system that automatically notifies parents in case of a school-wide emergency   Require faculty and staff to wear badges or picture IDs   Use one or more security cameras to monitor the school   Provide telephones in most classrooms   Provide two-way radios to any staff  
All public schools 27.1   73.0   67.9   80.6   79.3   73.3  
                         
Level2                        
Primary 26.8   71.7   73.2   73.2   78.5   77.3  
Middle 32.3   77.7   68.4   88.6   79.2   75.3  
High school 28.0   74.1   60.6   94.2   82.4   66.1  
Combined 14.7 ! 69.5   38.9   91.3   80.4   51.4  
                         
Enrollment size                        
Less than 300 21.6   67.8   45.9   73.8   78.4   60.0  
300–499 27.4   76.1   70.5   81.2   76.6   75.1  
500–999 29.6   74.1   76.2   81.3   80.4   79.1  
1,000 or more 28.7   71.3   75.9   90.9   85.1   75.0  
                         
Locale                        
City 23.6   69.2   64.5   80.7   85.3   80.2  
Suburb 34.1   75.7   81.0   78.0   82.1   76.4  
Town 24.9   73.2   65.8   81.0   70.3   67.1  
Rural 23.2   73.6   56.3   83.6   74.4   65.7  
                         
Crime level where students live3                        
High 26.6   71.0   60.4   81.3   84.2   75.6  
Moderate 26.4   68.9   65.0   79.9   79.1   77.4  
Low 28.2   75.1   70.1   80.5   78.0   71.2  
Mixed 23.9   71.8   67.5   81.8   82.5   74.7  
                         
Percent combined enrollment of
Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific
Islander, and American Indian/
Alaska Native students, and
students of Two or more races
                       
Less than 5 percent 24.5   66.7   53.2   82.5   84.7   54.7  
5 to less than 20 percent 31.0   75.5   71.5   82.7   79.9   70.5  
20 to less than 50 percent 29.9   74.3   73.8   84.0   76.5   75.4  
50 percent or more 23.4   71.7   64.2   76.9   80.0   76.6  
                         
Percent of students eligible for
free or reduced-price lunch
                       
0–25 percent 37.2   75.2   77.9   78.2   89.1   76.0  
26–50 percent 25.5   72.5   69.8   83.0   82.6   73.6  
51–75 percent 28.4   75.0   65.8   83.3   72.6   69.4  
More than 75 percent 21.5   70.3   61.9   77.1   76.8   75.3  
                         
Percent of students below 15th
percentile on standardized tests
                       
0–5 percent 28.5   72.2   66.3   81.7   82.0   71.7  
6–15 percent 26.6   72.1   68.3   80.8   79.9   71.6  
More than 15 percent 26.6   74.7   68.6   79.6   76.8   76.5  
                         
Percent of students likely
to attend college
                       
0–35 percent 22.2   68.8   66.8   79.5   76.7   75.3  
36–60 percent 28.3   74.4   69.7   79.6   75.0   73.0  
More than 60 percent 28.3   73.9   67.4   81.5   82.2   72.8  
                         
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement very important
                       
0–25 percent 22.6   73.4   56.6   83.1   69.0   76.9  
26–50 percent 23.6   68.4   67.2   78.4   75.6   72.5  
51–75 percent 22.9   70.3   69.0   83.5   77.8   70.3  
More than 75 percent 31.3   76.2   68.6   79.4   82.6   75.0  
                         
Percent male enrollment                        
0–44 percent 23.7   69.9   60.4   74.7   85.4   67.9  
45–55 percent 27.8   73.5   68.5   82.2   79.5   73.8  
More than 55 percent 24.2   71.6   68.3   71.5   73.1   73.7  
                         
Student-to-FTE ratio4                        
Less than 12 students 26.6   70.1   52.3   81.3   79.1   66.6  
12–16 students 31.4   75.3   74.6   87.0   76.7   71.4  
More than 16 students 24.4   72.3   67.4   76.2   81.2   76.4  
                         
Number of classroom changes5                        
0–3 changes 20.1   69.9   72.7   62.3   82.3   73.9  
4–6 changes 29.9   72.6   70.0   84.0   80.4   77.5  
More than 6 changes 28.6   76.0   61.3   89.7   75.6   67.2  
                         
Regular use of security staff6                        
Regular use 30.5   75.0   69.1   87.3   79.0   74.7  
No regular use 22.7   70.5   66.2   71.9   79.8   71.6  
                         
Number of serious discipline problems7                        
No problems 26.5   73.1   68.4   79.0   79.1   73.4  
1 problem 32.4   70.8   66.6   86.2   78.8   69.0  
2 problems 27.1   74.1   65.2   87.8   79.3   80.0  
3 or more problems 22.9   77.7   62.5   89.6   87.3   78.3  
                         
Transfers as a percentage of enrollment8                        
Less than 6 percent 26.9   78.5   66.9   80.1   77.8   73.7  
6 to less than 11 percent 23.2   72.1   63.9   79.7   80.5   71.7  
11 to less than 21 percent 30.6   71.5   70.0   82.7   80.2   72.9  
21 percent or more 27.2   68.9   70.6   79.7   79.0   75.1  
                         
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions9
                       
No disruptions 27.8   73.2   67.5   80.9   79.4   73.3  
Any disruptions 20.0   71.0   71.9   77.1   79.1   74.1  
                         
Percent of students absent
on a daily basis
                       
0–2 percent 28.5   71.1   64.0   75.2   77.3   67.0  
3–5 percent 27.7   73.4   71.2   81.3   79.4   74.6  
6–10 percent 26.0   74.1   66.7   81.1   79.7   72.8  
More than 10 percent 24.8   68.9   50.2   80.9   80.3   73.9  
                         
Prevalence of violent incidents 10                        
No violent incidents 25.0   73.7   66.6   75.2   79.2   72.1  
Any violent incidents 28.1   72.8   68.4   83.1   79.4   73.9  
! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is from 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimate's value.
1This item is new to the 2015–16 School Survey on Crime and Safety.
2Primary 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.
3Respondents 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."
4Student-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.
5Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
6Regular use of security staff includes full- or part-time school resource officers, sworn law enforcement officers, or security guards or security personnel present at school at least once a week.
7Serious discipline problems include student racial/ethnic tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student harassment of other students based on sexual orientation, student harassment of other students based on gender identity, widespread disorder in classrooms, student verbal abuse of teachers, student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse, and gang 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.
8Transfers 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.
9Schoolwide 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.
10Violent incidents include rape or attempted rape, sexual assault other than rape (including threatened rape), physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery (taking things with force) with or without a weapon.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because schools may have reported using more than one of these practices. 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, National Center for Education Statistics, 2015–16 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2016.