So far this school year, there have been 7,603 security incidents, of which 19.6% were considered serious.
During the same time last year, about 22% of the incidents were considered serious.
Of those serious incidents, 6% concerned fighting and attacks on others, 6% concerned drugs and 5% dealt with knives and other weapons, according to a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) report that was discussed during the Board of Education’s (BOE) Thursday meeting.
About one in seven of the incidents concern truancy, which includes students wandering the halls and not being in class. Medical emergencies also are included when they disrupt the school day.
During this school year, there have been 71 incidents involving knives. Last school year, by the same time there were 75. So far this year, there have been 84 serious fights. Last school year, by this time there were 115 reported, according to Shauna-Key Jorandby, director of student engagement.
Drug incidents are up, rising from last year’s 82 to this year’s 91.
“There has been a reduction in the number of serious fights and attacks and a slight increase in the drugs and controlled substances category,” it states in the report.
Marcus Jones, chief of MCPS Security and Compliance, presented his quarterly report on security in the schools during the BOE meeting.
The former Montgomery County police chief stressed the need for consistency in enforcing rules from one school to the next. He pointed out that some schools enforce the wearing of ID badges. Others not so much.
“Are we there yet? The answer is absolutely not,” Jones said about keeping all students and staff safe and secure.
In Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor’s proposed budget for the next school year, he requested hiring an additional 52 security assistants. Most likely, he added, he will request another 52 in the following year’s budget.
During the same BOE meeting, parents of students at Seven Locks Elementary School expressed concerns about security at the school in Bethesda.
Philip Hall said his daughter was physically assaulted two times by a third grader. That same student said he planned to bring a gun to school. Yet, that student was permitted to go on a field trip the next day, Hall said, adding that students now “understand there is no consequence” to such actions.
“My daughter used to love to go to school. Now she is afraid,” Hall said.
Other parents complained that there are multiple areas throughout many elementary schools where there is no cell phone service. In an emergency, not every teacher in every classroom can be notified immediately.
Jones talked about the need for panic buttons, or some method that everyone in every area of a school can be alerted to a danger. MCPS currently is speaking with several vendors about this, he said.
This school year, MCPS adopted policy in which all students must wear school-issued IDs at all times while on school grounds. The ID is supposed to be displayed prominently on a lanyard.
Students are supposed to present their ID when entering the building, but one student who spoke during the public comment section stated that ID checks are sporadic and vary from school to school.
Anuva Maloo, a junior at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, students need an incentive to wear their ID. She suggested that the ID be used multiple ways, including for checking out library materials.
Jones also reported that MCPS will be installing vape sensors in all high school restrooms used by students, starting at the end of this month or beginning of February.
Almost all new requested cameras have been installed in middle schools. Only four more schools still need them installed, which Jones said should be completed “in two weeks or so.”
Anita O’Neill, Clarksburg High School Principal, told BOE members of the progress her school has made in terms of security through relationship building, mentoring, restorative practices and striving for an increased sense of belonging.
Suspensions are down at Clarksburg, she noted.
