Because of the recent accidental shooting in a Bremerton elementary school that left one 9-year-old girl in critical condition, when the State of Washington Weapons in Schools Report 2010-11 came out this week, I paid attention.
What I found statewide was a little staggering in terms of sheer numbers. For example, with 295 school districts reporting, there were 45 incidents in 2010-2011 involving handguns, 7 involving rifles or shotguns, and a whopping 1,322 involving knives or daggers. (I can’t imagine what is included in the 564 incidents involving “other weapons,” but the first thought that came to mind was spitballs.)
All of these reported incidents occurred in public schools. The 403 out of 566 private schools that responded reported zero incidents. It’s possible, of course, that there were incidents at all 163 private schools that didn’t respond to the request for data.
Surprisingly, these statewide numbers are way down compared to the previous ten years, with the exception of firearms incidents, which appear to be holding steady. The rate of incidents per 1,000 students is 1.91 this year, down from a high in 2005-2006 of 3.43.
But Bainbridge is a different story altogether. In 2010-2011, only one incident was reported, involving one of those “other weapons,” and the offending student was expelled. The one incident represents 0.03 percent of enrollment.
North Kitsap School District reported 16 knife or dagger incidents, resulting in 13 suspensions and 3 expulsions. And the Bremerton School District reported 9 incidents, 8 of them with knives or daggers and 1 of them with an “other weapon.” Five of those offending students were suspended and 4 expelled. Central Kitsap, with the highest enrollment, reported the largest number of incidents, 39, in the county (all offenders were suspended).
The highest numbers of incidents were reported in Snohomish, Pierce, and King Counties. All three reported an identical rate of incidents per number of students, 0.30 percent, the same as the rate for Kitsap County. The highest rates were reported in Skamania (0.50 percent) and Ferry (0.60 percent) counties.
Photo by Scott Feldstein.
