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Table 26.2  Percentage of public high 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 high schools 28.0   74.1   60.6   94.2   82.4   66.1  
                         
Enrollment size                        
Less than 300 24.3   73.2   27.1   87.5   80.3   44.4  
300–499 22.4   75.8   58.6   94.1   78.6   63.8  
500–999 30.5   74.3   65.0   98.1   79.4   73.3  
1,000 or more 30.2   73.8   73.5   94.9   86.4   72.4  
                         
Locale                        
City 25.8   69.2   57.2   91.4   90.3   71.3  
Suburb 36.1   75.6   71.7   95.5   84.3   79.1  
Town 16.7   77.6   57.0   97.6   69.7   56.3  
Rural 27.7   75.1   53.3   93.3   80.2   52.1  
                         
Crime level where students live2                        
High 17.5   69.0   52.5   96.4   89.5   70.3  
Moderate 27.3   74.1   60.0   94.1   83.8   67.9  
Low 30.8   75.1   64.6   95.3   79.7   63.1  
Mixed 26.0   74.5   51.9   88.1   84.7   71.8  
                         
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 34.9   75.0   56.3   95.4   89.0   55.2  
5 to less than 20 percent 32.6   81.8   63.9   96.7   79.2   61.2  
20 to less than 50 percent 27.1   73.7   64.6   93.6   79.4   69.9  
50 percent or more 24.1   69.0   56.4   92.6   85.3   69.0  
                         
Percent of students eligible for
free or reduced-price lunch		                        
0–25 percent 41.0   74.7   72.5   93.2   85.5   70.6  
26–50 percent 25.4   79.3   59.3   95.4   84.3   64.7  
51–75 percent 25.4   70.3   62.4   93.1   74.0   63.6  
More than 75 percent 23.9   70.7   50.3   94.5   86.7   67.5  
                         
Percent of students below 15th
percentile on standardized tests		                        
0–5 percent 34.1   74.8   59.7   93.9   82.0   63.7  
6–15 percent 23.9   74.5   66.0   94.9   81.9   66.4  
More than 15 percent 27.4   73.2   55.4   93.6   83.2   67.9  
                         
Percent of students likely
to attend college		                        
0–35 percent 23.7   65.6   54.5   96.9   80.5   64.6  
36–60 percent 24.8   79.1   62.6   95.3   77.0   66.5  
More than 60 percent 30.7   74.6   61.6   92.8   85.3   66.4  
                         
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement very important		                        
0–25 percent 21.4 ! 58.9   40.6 ! 96.9   60.2   60.4  
26–50 percent 18.9   70.0   61.0   93.7   77.4   63.6  
51–75 percent 22.3   79.0   59.8   97.1   82.7   62.3  
More than 75 percent 35.5   74.1   63.2   92.1   86.3   70.1  
                         
Percent male enrollment                        
0–44 percent 33.2   79.8   54.3   89.0   79.4   63.3  
45–55 percent 27.7   74.3   62.5   95.8   83.5   66.3  
More than 55 percent 26.6   68.4   50.2   84.7   75.4   66.8  
                         
Student-to-FTE ratio3                        
Less than 12 students 27.4   68.3   51.4   94.0   79.5   60.5  
12–16 students 30.4   75.3   67.9   96.1   75.8   61.1  
More than 16 students 26.8   74.6   58.4   93.2   86.3   69.8  
                         
Number of classroom changes4                        
0–3 changes 28.5 ! 73.7   56.9   97.4   89.1   67.7  
4–6 changes 30.2   76.5   62.3   94.1   88.0   72.4  
More than 6 changes 26.0   72.1   59.4   94.0   77.0   60.6  
                         
Regular use of security staff5                        
Regular use 32.2   74.4   65.1   95.9   84.2   69.6  
No regular use 9.9 ! 72.9   41.5   86.9   74.5   51.3  
                         
Number of serious discipline problems6                        
No problems 28.9   74.4   59.3   93.1   82.0   65.1  
1 problem 26.9   75.2   64.0   98.1   80.1   72.9  
2 problems 22.3 ! 58.4   60.8   93.3   86.2   70.8  
3 or more problems 22.8 ! 80.1   68.8   98.6   88.8   59.2  
                         
Transfers as a percentage of enrollment7                        
Less than 6 percent 30.0   78.1   58.2   92.3   78.1   66.5  
6 to less than 11 percent 25.5   74.3   61.0   90.4   82.5   68.2  
11 to less than 21 percent 29.9   79.3   68.8   97.0   84.2   68.7  
21 percent or more 24.9   61.4   53.1   97.0   86.2   60.3  
                         
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions8		                        
No disruptions 28.6   75.0   60.4   94.2   82.0   65.8  
Any disruptions 24.2   69.4   61.9   93.8   84.2   68.0  
                         
Percent of students absent
on a daily basis		                        
0–2 percent 22.4 ! 80.8   61.4   98.0   94.2   66.9  
3–5 percent 28.0   72.2   65.5   91.8   81.3   64.9  
6–10 percent 29.8   78.2   61.3   95.4   81.4   65.8  
More than 10 percent 24.3   66.2   45.3   96.1   84.4   70.1  
                         
Prevalence of violent incidents 9                        
No violent incidents 21.3 ! 71.4   36.0   90.0   81.5   44.9  
Any violent incidents 28.7   74.4   63.4   94.7   82.4   68.5  
! 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.
2Respondents 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."
3Student-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.
4Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
5Regular 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.
6Serious 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.
7Transfers 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.
8Schoolwide 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.
9Violent 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: 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. 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.

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