Millstone Township schools less violent

MILLSTONE — There were about half the incidents of violence and vandalism in the school district during 2008-09 than there were in 2007-08.

At the Oct. 26 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Donahue presented the annual violence, vandalism and substance abuse report, which is required by the state.

During the 2008-09 school year, there were eight incidents of violence, which included fights on Oct. 23, Nov. 2, Dec. 8, May 20 and June 2.

While investigating the June 2 fight, school officials discovered a pocketknife in a student's backpack, so the incident was also reported as a weapon offense, according to Donahue.

There were two separate bullying incidents, involving different children, on Feb. 3 and May 4. An iPod stolen on March 16 was recovered, she said.

There are guidelines as to when the school district must notify police of an incident. Police were notified in two of the incidents, according to the report.

Donahue said 15 students received short-term suspensions, of less than two weeks, as a result of the reported incidents. The student with the weapon received a long-term suspension, defined as a suspension of ten days or more, she said. One student had a psychiatric evaluation based on the incident they were involved in, according to Donahue.

In 2007-08, a total of 15 incidents were reported — 10 violent, one weapon, and four vandalism. The state report for that school year was released on Oct. 22.

Donahue reviewed the number of incidents in Monmouth County school districts with elementary and middle schools of similar size during 2007-08. She said Colts Neck had five incidents, Fair Haven had six, Tinton Falls had 22, and neighboring Upper Freehold had 30.

The number of incidents in the school district has decreased over the years, Donahue said.

"We would like to have no incidents but we understand that from time to time things do happen with children," she said.

Donahue added that special needs student incidents are reported differently by uploading them to state software.