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FOR RELEASE
October 3, 2000
Contact:
Melinda Kitchell Malico
(202) 401-1008
EXPULSIONS OF STUDENTS WHO BROUGHT GUNS TO SCHOOL DROPS FOR THIRD YEAR
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today announced that fewer students are being expelled for bringing firearms to school, 3,523 students during the 1998-99 school year, compared to 3,658 in the year before. The most recent number is a significant decrease from three years ago, when the first report listed 5,724 expulsions.
The new findings are published in the Report of State Implementation of the Gun-Free Schools Act - School Year 1998-99: Final Report 2000.
"When young people don't act responsibly, we must move decisively to protect others," Riley said. "The Gun-Free Schools Act has helped improve school safety by making sure that students understand the serious consequences - expulsion -- of bringing a gun to school. While the trend is moving in the right direction, it is very disturbing that we still have more than 3,500 young people bringing firearms to school."
The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 required states to pass laws requiring school districts to expel any student who brings a firearm to school. All states have complied and this report is the third state-by-state look at implementation of the federal law. President Clinton has requested $650 million for Safe and Drug-Free Schools in fiscal year 2001, an increase of $50 million over FY2000.
The majority of the expulsions - 59 percent - were for handguns brought to school. Twelve percent were for rifles or shotguns, and 29 percent were for bombs, grenades or starter pistols. Most expulsions, 57 percent, were in high schools, 33 percent were in junior highs and, like the previous year, 10 percent were in elementary schools.
"Let me emphasize again that the great majority of America's public schools are safe," Riley said. "School is often the only place in the world that is safe for children from troubled homes or dangerous neighborhoods, but we must keep working together until all schools and communities are free of violence."
Riley made his announcement at Louisville's Iroquois High School, where he learned about Jefferson County's Project SHIELD (Supporting Healthy Individuals and Environments for Life Development), the district's comprehensive violence prevention strategy. The district is in the second year of a three-year federal ($2.8 million per year) Safe Schools, Healthy Students grant. The funds help districts, law enforcement and mental health service providers tie together community-based services and prevention activities into a communitywide approach to violence prevention and healthy child development. The district partners locally with the Seven Counties Services, as well as the Louisville Police Department.
"A communitywide approach to violence prevention and early intervention are critical to preventing acts of violence and the isolation of a child that can lead to such tragedies," Riley said. "We're asking Congress for more funds to expand after-school programs to keep students safe and provide enriched learning opportunities. We're asking for funds to help make high schools because students can feel isolated in large schools, and that can make them feel disconnected and hostile. And we're asking Congress to reduce class size in the early grades so teachers can spend more time with each child. These things make a big difference in student achievement, and they also help teachers identify troubled students early and work with parents to help the children."
States must submit annual reports on the number of students expelled by firearm type and school level, the number of expulsions that were modified, how many of those cases were not for students with disabilities, and the number of expelled students who were referred to alternative programs. The report includes state-by-state data for these categories; however, not all states and territories submitted data for each category.
Riley said the findings contained in the report should be interpreted with caution, as some states submitted data on all weapons, not just firearms, while others submitted aggregate data not broken out by school level and/or type of weapon. He said data collection has improved since implementation of the law, but the quality of data on expulsions varies widely from state to state.
Following corrected data submissions by states, the previously reported total figure for expulsions in 1997-98 was adjusted from 3,930 to 3,658.
The Gun-Free Schools Act is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended in 1994.
The report will be available at the department's Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/news.html.
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