Reports of crime and violence in North Carolina public schools decreased during the 2024-25 school year for the second consecutive year, according to an presented to the State Board of Education this week.

The report — which is required by state law and tracks discipline, alternative learning, and dropouts across the state — “shows strong levels of safety” in North Carolina public schools, Nearly 80% of schools had five or fewer acts of reportable criminal offenses last year, the release said, and “only 9,966 students or approximately 0.66%, committed a reportable offense.”

“This data, I think, certainly shows that there’s still work to be done to address certain instances of reportable criminal offenses,” Superintendent Mo Green said during the Board’s Wednesday meeting. “But it is good to know that the vast majority of our schools experience minimal such acts, and that more than 99% of our public school students are not committing these acts.”

“It’s also encouraging to see that we have a downward trend on these offenses and also declines in suspensions, alternative placements, and dropouts,” Green said. “Because we also know how critical it is to be in school to have student success.”

On Wednesday, DPI staff emphasized that context is crucial when discussing the report — particularly its data on school crimes and violence. When a topic is emotionally charged, like school safety, it can be easy to rely on anecdotes rather than data, said Dr. Michael Maher, DPI’s chief accountability officer. While the data shows most North Carolina schools are safe — and getting safer — Maher said, “any act of violence in a school is unacceptable.”

“Student safety is nonnegotiable, and nothing in this data or presentation is intended to minimize harm or dismiss legitimate concerns,” he said. “The purpose of this report is to provide information, analysis, and develop some recommendations for improvement.”

During the 2024-25 school year, there were 11,470 total reported acts of violent and reportable crimes committed by students (11,429) and non-students (41). This reflects a 6.1% decrease in the number of reportable acts compared to the 2023-24 school year (12,212), the presentation says, and a 8.2% decrease in the rate of acts per 1,000 students. Generally, the rate of acts is a more accurate way to make a comparison to prior years, Maher said, as it adjusts for the size of the group.

The report tracks 16 reportable acts, nine of which are considered dangerous and violent:

• Assault involving the use of a weapon
• Assault resulting in serious bodily injury
• Homicide
• Kidnapping
• Rape
• Robbery with a dangerous weapon
• Sexual assault/battery
• Sexual offense
• Taking indecent liberties with a minor

Only 2.6% of reported acts in 2024-25 were violent, the report shows. The vast majority of acts were possession offenses, particularly related to controlled substances (62%), which “includes Marijuana, Heroin, LSD, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, or any other drug listed in Schedules I-VI of the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act” ().

“While every incident matters, the data show that severe violence is rare, and the most common challenges schools are managing are behavioral and substance related, not widespread physical harm,” Maher said. “So any policy or procedure or programmatic recommendation we make should be proportional to that evidence.”

Maher also said that current data should not be compared to data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic without context. The long-term data tables in the report include data from 2019-21, when students were not at school in-person for long stretches of time. Those years “show a significant decline in the number of incidents and resulting actions,” the presentation says.

“While this data is reliable and valid, it is a unique data set that does not align with pre- or post-pandemic data,” per the presentation. “Individuals should exercise caution when making comparisons between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic data as there have been changes to the school context, including increased remote learning.”

Both reported crimes and suspensions were higher in 2024-25 than before the pandemic.

This year, the report was renamed to “Annual Report: Discipline, Alternative Learning, and Dropout.” Previously, it was called the consolidated data report, “which doesn’t really tell you anything,” Maher said.

In addition to data on school crime and violence, the report also includes data on reassignments for disciplinary reasons, suspensions and expulsions, alternative learning, dropouts, and corporal punishment. In 2024-25, there were zero reported cases of corporal punishment in North Carolina public schools, according to the presentation, marking the seventh consecutive year of zero cases.

You can view DPI’s full presentation , and the 165-page report to the General Assembly . You can also watch DPI’s presentation of the data to the Board , starting at 3:29:00.

Data trends and subgroup data

In addition to aggregated data across the state’s schools, the report also includes subgroup data in each category, including the number count and rate per 1,000 students by gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, and whether or not the student is an English Learner.

Each category also includes data on the rates among elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. At the end of DPI’s presentation, Maher shared overall data trends with the Board regarding such subgroup data.

Students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades have higher rates than most other grade levels in suspensions, Maher said, including in-school, short-, and long-term suspensions. At the same time, he said ninth grade “remains the primary risk point,” with higher rates or numbers of in-school suspension, long-term suspension, dropouts, and acts of crime and violence.

Across the board, Maher said the subgroups with the highest number count and rates included students who are male, Black, two or more races, economically disadvantaged, or have disabilities.

Board member Reginald Kenan said it was important for people to understand this data correctly, rather than to reinforce stereotypes.

“This report, if it’s not understood, will make someone think that certain races, certain students, are problem makers and can’t get educated because certain students are in the classroom,” Kenan said. “The data is great when you understand it.”

Maher noted, particularly when it comes to violent and reportable crime in schools, that “these are descriptive patterns … not causal explanations.”

“The same pattern shows up across multiple education outcomes, including attendance, course and test performance, and dropouts — not just discipline,” Maher said. “So that tells us that discipline is not a standalone issue. Effective solutions need to connect attendance, behavior, academic support, and student services.”

Maher also noted that subgroups with the highest rates of reportable acts also saw rate decreases in the last two years, in many cases in the double digits. This was true for many subgroups across most other categories in the report as well.

“So this is a picture of both persistent disparities, but also meaningful progress,” Maher said.

In addition to decreases in rates among many student subgroups, there were also decreases in total reports of crime, suspensions (in-school and short- and long-term), the high school dropout rate, and alternative learning placements.

Finally, Maher noted that across all reported categories, a relatively small number of students were involved.

“Less than 13% of the preschool through grade 13 student population received any type of reportable disciplinary consequence (in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, alternative placement for disciplinary reasons, expulsion) for inappropriate behavior,” the presentation says.

In-school suspensions and alternative learning

In the report, reassignments refer to cases of in-school suspension and alternative learning placements for disciplinary reasons.

Less than 8.1% of the student population received one or more in-school suspensions, the report said, with 241,492 in-school suspensions (ISS) of a half-day or more to 124,334 students.

That reflects a 8.7% reduction in the total number of ISS compared to 2023-24, the presentation says, and a 10.8% reduction in the rate per 1,000 students.

Nearly 81% of public school units (which includes school districts, charter, and lab schools) had ISS rates below the state rate, according to Dr. Rob Dietrich, DPI’s senior director of enterprise data and reporting.

Five student subgroups were above the state event rate of 156.53 ISSs per 1,000 students: males, Black students, students who are two or more races, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities. National and state research has long shown that compared to those of white students for the same infractions.

As was the case for reports of crime, rates of ISS decreased over the last two years among student subgroups, Dietrich said.

“You want to see these numbers continue to decrease,” he said.

In the past, DPI staff and Board members have advocated for more culturally responsive training for teachers, along with a need to make less subjective, more data-informed decisions about discipline.

On Wednesday, Kenan said while he is glad to see the decrease in discipline rates among student subgroups, it’s important to know how and why things improved — so that practices that worked can be replicated to continue to reduce discipline inequities.

Vice Chair Alan Duncan added that the report is missing information on the disparity in types of discipline for the same offenses between student groups. Maher and Dietrich said it was “on their list” for future reporting.

“It’s been a long-term issue in schools around the country, and although we are better than some states, we still have it as an issue very much,” Duncan said of school discipline disparities.

There were 2,994 alternative learning placements as a disciplinary action in 2024-25, which reflects a 22.6% decrease in the rate of placements compared to the previous school year.

Nearly 84% of districts and charter schools reported zero alternative learning placements for disciplinary reasons, per the report.

Four out of the five student subgroups above the state average for alternative learning placements saw decreases in the rate of placements over the last two years: Black students, students with disabilities, male students, and economically disadvantaged students.

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students saw a 130.7% and 40.7% increase in placements over the last two years, respectively.

“You look at that number and you think, ‘That number’s awful big,’” Dietrich said. “But when you have a small population, when you have any movement in either direction, like you do here with Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders … any number up or down is going to have a pretty big size effect on the rate.”

The report also includes data on alternative learning program enrollment for all students, not just students placed in alternative learning for disciplinary reasons.

There were 8,741 student enrollments in alternative learning programs in 2024-25, which decreased by more than 13% last year.

While the top two reasons for placement were instead of long-term suspension (34%) and for chronic misbehavior (28.5%), 11.4% of placements were because of student or parent choice.

Suspensions and expulsions

Short-term and long-term suspensions also decreased in 2024-25 when compared to the previous two academic years.

There were 233,877 short-term suspensions reported, for a rate of roughly 145 short-term suspensions per 1,000 students. That is a 10.6% decrease in the rate from 2023-24 and a 11.8% decrease in the rate from 2022-23.

Approximately 73% of suspensions were for one to three days in length, with one-day suspensions being the most frequent.

There were 684 long-term suspensions reported, for a rate of roughly 44 long-term suspensions per 1,000 students. That is a a 8.4% decrease in the rate from 2023-24 and a 5.8% decrease in the rate from 2022-23.

According to the presentation, 28,504 days of school were missed due to long-term suspensions.

While student subgroups with the highest rates saw a decrease in the rate of short-term suspensions, some subgroups saw increases in rates of long-term suspensions.

In addition to the 684 long-term suspensions, 2,806 students were enrolled in alternative learning programs instead of long-term suspension. Therefore, long-term removals, including suspensions and alternative learning placements, totaled 3,588 removals — a 10.3% increase from the previous school year.

Finally, there were 34 expulsions in 2024-25, up four from the prior school year.

“Even though there is a slight increase, expulsions are still extremely rare,” the DPI presentation says.

Dropout rates

Dropout rates in North Carolina continue to decline, according to the report.

There were a total of 10,478 students in grades 1-13 who dropped out in 2024-25, with 76.5% of those students dropping out in grades 9-13.

The top three dropout reasons were attendance (36.4%), unknown (31%), and a student’s school status being unknown after moving (12.9%).

Dropouts increased at the elementary and middle grade levels, and decreased at the high school level — though ninth grade remains the grade with the largest percentage of dropouts.

DPI began implementing a new (NCSIS) in 2024-25, Dietrich said. The report includes data from both PowerSchool and NCSIS powered by Infinite Campus.

Dietrich said the new system has helped districts run their dropouts against the entire state to locate students who moved within the state.

“What that allowed them to do is get more accurate reporting on where students ended up or did not end up,” he said. “So I think that helps clarify the records for them and account for some of those increases.”

Recommendations

New this year, the report — which is received by the General Assembly — also includes recommendations.

The report includes three recommendations:

• Establish a targeted middle-to-high school transition initiative for grades 6-9. The initiative would prioritize tiered behavioral and academic interventions, the presentation says, and is expected to identify at-risk students earlier and reduce reliance on exclusionary discipline.
• Expand annual reporting to included advanced analyses and continuous monitoring. The presentation says this will provide “stronger alignment between data, prevention strategies, and student support efforts.”
• Continue training for public school units on discipline, alternative learning, and dropout data. Such training will help ensure “discipline decisions are made in a consistent and defensible way, using shared standards so actions are fair, clearly documented, and meaningful for follow-up and intervention,” the presentation says.

Maher said DPI would like to establish a work group that, among other things, would identify “bright spot schools” whose best practices could be replicated at schools with similar demographics.

Importantly, Maher said such best practices should focus on student support, not discipline or remediation. Moving forward, he said schools should make data-informed decisions to continue supporting students and fostering safe learning environments.

“Progress is real, and policy should be proportional to the evidence,” Maher said.

This was originally published on .

As the pandemic came to an end and students returned to in-person learning, the national sentiment around school safety and security grew dire. 

After more than a year of learning from home and away from their friends, frenemies and rivals, educators reported that children brought back to school with them newfound behavioral challenges. 

But new federal data — including on-campus assaults, bullying and thefts — complicate that narrative. Even as students’ mental health needs surged, the numbers suggest that school crime continued a downward trend that’s been ongoing for more than a decade. 

These 10 charts explain how schools have grown less violent since COVID. 

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Emotional support

I hope you find my roundup on the latest school crime stats to be stimulating. 

Matilda did not.