FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Have there been fights, bullying or threats made at your child’s school? There’s a new report out that breaks down just what types of incidents and how many have happened inside Florida schools.
The Florida Department of Education collected data from every district from the 2017-2018 school year. This data is a collection of incidents that are against the law or a serious breach of the code of student conduct.
In the 2017-2018 school year, more than 70,000 incidents happened inside Florida schools. 33% of them were reported to law enforcement.
The department recommends 21 S.E.S.I.R. offenses to consult with law enforcement, including trespassing, vandalism, physical attack, weapon possession and much more.
There are only five offenses that the department said may not need police consultation such as fighting and bullying.
District leaders said they go case by case because some incidents are necessary to involve law enforcement while others can be handled by the district.
In Lee County, there were 3,000 incidents, with 800 of them being reported to police. According to the report, LCSD ranked #9 in the state for the highest number of incidents reported to law enforcement.
Fighting, physical attacks, drug use, tobacco and threats were among the top reported across the state. Bullying, sexual harassment and other major offenses were also up there.
According to the report, the Collier County School District reported a student possessing a weapon almost 70 times in the 2017-2018 school year, which was top 5 in the state.
The data is used to help the state know what areas to assist each district.
The Lee County School District will go over the report in a workshop Monday morning.
Full report HERE.
