Crime rates in schools are extremely low, on order 10% of the crime rate in non-school areas, and hence do not represent very much to worry about. If we could reduce the general crime rate to these levels, it would be billed as a major miracle. Nonetheless, here are the numbers.
Because the numbers are in general quite low, the statistical variance on the numbers is relatively high. In general, one would have to accumulate several years of data for the smaller districts in order to really make the case that one is significantly worse than another.
| District name | Enrollment | drug/ alcohol offenses | battery | assault with deadly weapon | robbery/ extortion | sex offense | possession of weapon | property crimes | dollar loss to district |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonsall Elementary | 1,310 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1,194 |
| Carlsbad Unified | 7,384 | 34 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 16,711 |
| Encinitas Elementary | 4,982 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 13,266 |
| Escondido Elementary | 17,051 | 29 | 87 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 233 | 84,074 |
| Escondido High | 7,279 | 90 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 4,565 |
| Fallbrook Elementary | 5,806 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 4,204 |
| Fallbrook High | 2,462 | 42 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 950 |
| Oceanside Unified | 19,486 | 93 | 94 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 34 | 17,119 |
| Poway Unified | 30,043 | 75 | 53 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 88 | 57,148 |
| Ramona Unified | 6,764 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 1,608 |
| San Dieguito High | 8,063 | 73 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 5,842 |
| San Marcos Unified | 10,953 | 58 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 16,794 |
| Valley Center Unified | 2,657 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1,058 |
| Vista Unified | 24,094 | 90 | 54 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 62 | 37,488 |
| San Diego County | 438,120 | 1,498 | 1,114 | 140 | 95 | 49 | 525 | 1,976 | 925,853 |
| District name | Enrollment | drug/ alcohol offenses | battery | assault with deadly weapon | robbery/ extortion | sex offense | possession of weapon | property crimes | dollar loss to district |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonsall Elementary | 1,310 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 911 |
| Carlsbad Unified | 7,384 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2,263 |
| Encinitas Elementary | 4,982 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2,663 |
| Escondido Elementary | 17,051 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 4,931 |
| Escondido High | 7,279 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 627 |
| Fallbrook Elementary | 5,806 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 724 |
| Fallbrook High | 2,462 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 386 |
| Oceanside Unified | 19,486 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 878 |
| Poway Unified | 30,043 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1,902 |
| Ramona Unified | 6,764 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 237 |
| San Dieguito High | 8,063 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 725 |
| San Marcos Unified | 10,953 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1,533 |
| Valley Center Unified | 2,657 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 398 |
| Vista Unified | 24,094 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1,556 |
| San Diego County | 438,120 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2,113 |
As can be seen in either table above, Fallbrook schools are among the lowest in every category except one: drug/alcohol offenses. District Superintendent Joe DeDiminicantanio said this was due to having more security guards to catch the offenders.
"One of the reasons I think our figure is as high as it is, is because we have 6 full-time security guards on this campus...I don't think other districts have close to that," he said. "What we have here is a higher incident of apprehended offenders."
He said a survey of the 42 offenses committed last year revealed there was only one repeat offender, and that most students were using drugs as opposed to alcohol, and marijuana seemed to be the drug of choice.
One other item is the high rate of batteries in Bonsall, which is indeed significantly higher than the average. Superintendent Kim Marshall said the incidents occurred at Sullivan Middle School. He said the school has improved its discipline policies, and the number of suspensions at the school has sharply declined since a new principal took over.
Source for the above: NCT 2/27/97, A1, A7.
In the subsequent several years, vandalism has become more of a problem for the Fallbrook Elementary School District. FUESD had the second-worst per-pupil loss in 1997-98, $4.60 per pupil. In 1996-97, the per-pupil loss was an astronomical $8.87. Among the incidents in January, March and April 1999 at Potter Junior High:
In the vast scale of things, this is pretty minor, but it is upsetting to a number of people. Video cameras may be installed, and officials are considering hiring security guards. However, the cost of security guards would be much larger than the vandalism total, so it does not make economic sense. But it would be nice to catch the vandals.
Source for recent info: NCT 5/9/99, B1, B5.
Go To:
Copyright © 1997-1999 by Tom Chester.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce any or all of this page as long as credit is given to me at this source:
http://sd.znet.com/~schester/fallbrook/crime/schools.html
Comments and feedback: Tom Chester
Last update: 9 May 1999.