Brick Tops Toms River in Number of Violence Incidents in Schools
Presentation before Brick school board draws comparisons to Toms River
The Brick Township district piled up more instances of reported violence than any other Ocean County school system. That’s 157 incidents in Brick compared to 129 in Toms River.
However, Toms River Regional had the most total incidents of school crime (that’s violence, vandalism, weapons and substance abuse violations), with 223 instances compared to Brick’s 218, according to the annual state Department of Education report for the 2010-2011 school year.
Toms River’s incident breakdown:
- 129 reports of violence
- 27 reports of vandalism
- 14 reports of weapons violations
- 56 reports of substance abuse violations
- There’s 223 total incidents reported, some with multiple violations of both weapons and violence, for example.
In a presentation Wednesday night before the Brick Board of Education, Brick Superintendent Walter Hrycenko said that there were 81 assaults, 49 fights, 19 instances of harassment, intimidation or bullying and one sexual assault reported by district officials to the state Department of Education during the 2010-11 school year.
In Brick, there were 56 substance abuse violations, 10 weapons violations, and four instances of vandalism, according to state reporting. Toms River had 27 reports of vandalism, 14 weapons violations, and 56 substance abuse violations.
In all, according to state records, there were 218 instances of violence, vandalism, weapons and substance abuse violations in the Brick district, which had a student population of 9,961.
Brick board member John Talty said the numbers were troubling.
"In violence, we're ahead of everybody," he said, pointing specifically to the Toms River Regional School District for comparison.
Toms River, which had a much larger student population of 16,995, had fewer reported instances of violence than Brick. Toms River had 129 violent incidents, compared with 153 in Brick.
Another large Ocean County district – Jackson Township with 9,584 students – had just 53 instances of violence reported last year.
Among all Ocean County school districts, Brick had the highest number of violent incidents reported.
"I'm just concerned that somebody will look at this and say, Brick Township is out of control," said Talty. "Why should I move to Brick Township?"
Hrycenko, when asked by Talty to explain the comparatively high rate of incidents, did not specifically address violence, but said that Brick's number of substance abuse violations may have been driven up by the district's random drug testing policy. Toms River does not perform random drug testing, he said.
Hrycenko also said that Brick's central administration stresses the reporting of all its instances of violence to the state.
"Unless somebody can show me that Toms River is not reporting violence, then I have to assume the administrators there are doing what we're doing here," Talty shot back.
To see the full list of school's across the state and the incidents reported, click here: state records.
The next Toms River Regional school board meeting is 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Toms River High School North.
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Jerry Belle
1:20 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Are all things equal? Are all of the schools mentioned reporting the incidents using the same criteria or do they have different thresholds before it is determined to be official and then reported?
Catherine Galioto
1:31 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Hi Jerry Belle, what constitutes an incident is defined by the state, and all districts must follow it. Here is a complete description of those definitions for the annual reporting: http://homeroom.state.nj.us/evvrs/Incident_Detail.htm
William J Moss
6:23 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Yes Key state record above
Jerry Belle
7:14 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thanks Catherine G. for the great answer. I appreciate the link too :)
Resident
3:19 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Isn't it a shame that we have to worry about our kids more when they are in school than when they are home.
1stcav
4:03 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
It's not just school, any public place where people garther for inter- action with one another...Usually out of sight , out of mind, but not in todays world, you can't watch them 24/7 to keep them from harms way. Schools happen to be where kids are ALL the time and stupid stuff HAPPENS , because we were all stupid at one time ( Kids ) .You just hope it's not something that causes one to loose a life ...over something stupid !
Martin
7:59 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
Yippee! WE'RE #1.
How about expressing the incidents as crime RATES... the numbers as percentageS of each town's student population? That would make them more meaningful.
Penileimplants
8:27 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
If the current trend continues,people of all ilks are likely not to go to farms or orchards to view the gypsy moth. If we bypass the current trend,we can apply the modem of self gratification to the horses that pull the carriages in central park.How many of us at one time or another have felt the need to just slap someone silly who was acting the fool?If the trend continues unabated,we shall see what we shall see !
Taxidermy is an art best left to the experts and not to local amateurs who have no idea how to mount a head of lettuce on the wall! The proboscis is an appendage that is actually a nose,but then again,who reall knows.All I know is that history is doomed to repeat itself,repeat itself ,repeat itself,repeat itself.
George
8:48 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
Please take your meds, Bean Gas Ahhhh.
GaryR
8:52 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
Wow...I've heard of speaking metaphorically, but that diatrob is even hard to follow!
Penileimplants
9:03 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
If you took this seriously,then you need MEDS !! LOL
Penileimplants
9:05 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
LIGHTEN UP FOLKS, LIFE IS TOO SHORT ..GO HUG YOUR WIFE,KIDS,DOGS !
GaryR
8:37 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
Folks, read the Brick Patch for yesterday's similar article where everyone just started to point fingers at every elected official they could think of when this report came out. The schools aren't ravaged with crime, it's just a matter of reporting everything that goes on. I spoke to a friend yesterday that is familiar with this subject for quite some time. He said with the advent of cell pones in the schools, the number of incidents that involve kids texting threatening messages between kids is staggering. Where as once it was done face-to-face...now there is a 'text trail' sort to say that shows what happened....and it all has to be investigated and reported. Kids are kids, just like when we were all kids. There are good ones and bad ones. With the increase of single parent households, 2 working parents with no one home to take charge, and what some say is a lack of parenting in general...things are a bit worst...but not drastically worst. Let's not hammer the BOE, the Mayor, the Town Counsel, and everyone else we can think of. Parochial schools are not better that public...let's just look in the mirror if we want to change things. Let's start at home because the school system is not where bad kids get straightened out and taught how to act socially...that's our job as parents, not the teacher's job.
cindy
12:06 am on Saturday, October 15, 2011
I couldn't have said it better myself Gary. You are dead on and we as parents need to pay more attention to the most valuable assets we have.