JONESBORO — In a presentation at a Clayton County Board Education work session, Chief of Safety and Security Dr. Reynard Walker told the board that the number of weapons found in schools this year was about half compared to last school year.
He said about 100 weapons were found in schools last year while 56 were found this year.
According to the April 2023 safety and security report, there were four weapons violations in April compared to 11 in April of 2022.
“I think we had a super school year and hope to continue to move forward with that,” he said.
He credited the installation of weapons detection systems for cutting down on the number of weapons.
Of the 56 weapons found on school grounds, 18 were guns but those numbers are skewed because of the 18, eight were real guns. He said they are required to report toy guns and some other weapons as guns.
Of those eight, three were actually found in school buildings.
He also said that the Safety and Security department saw a decrease in fights on school grounds. Contributing to the decrease were extra security staff and administration and staff being more diligent, Walker said.
According to the monthly report, there were six fights reported in April 2023, a decrease from 13 last April.
There was an increase in simple battery, sexual battery, and simple assault compared to last April.
There were 17 reports of simple battery this year compared to 14 last April, five reports of sexual battery compared to two last year, and three simple assaults compared to one last year.
“We can improve the number of fights by improving the culture of the schools if we have our principals that are making sure their staff is visible within the school, setting standards, and expecting more from students,” Board of Education Chair Jessie Goree said.
She also said schools need to go over the…
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