Hello, friends!
Throughout the course of this years' contest for School Board, I've seen numerous parents, residents, and taxpayers express concern about the safety conditions at the Freeport School District degenerating. That's a weird sentence, but I don't know how else to really put it: There's this pervasive idea that the schools are unsafe as they're operated; or, at least significantly less safe than they were.
I mean, hey! Didn't you hear about that one recent, really bad fight? Isn't that something to be worried about?
This article has changed significantly in its second draft thanks to information from village insiders and also just the course of revisions. Much of it (especially the data dive) will be in its original form, because that was the original point of the article - Background, data-dive, quick thoughts, done.
The more research I did, the more complicated the story got, and the more I had to say about it; so I hope you'll join me for a dive into data, statistics, numbers, and - ultimately - a broader perspective to take on some changes that need to take place to fix what looks like a very real, but intangible problem.
If you want a TL;DR version of this, just scroll down to the last few paragraphs, but suffice to say that the data does not tell a complete picture, the research is sometimes contradictory, and the pursuit of information has been hampered with farce. I've broken the article down to chapters, with chapter 3 being my conclusions and, as I always endeavor to provide, recommendations on what to do, next.
On The Record About School Safety
Obviously, it goes without saying that student safety is paramount. As an educator for about eight years, I've always put student safety first. I've had to test that commitment to their safety bodily (took just a grazing blow, no biggie).
Chapter One: Sourcing and data.
I was looking for some exact quotes to pull from the candidates, because the first thing I know about journalism is that it's essential to get people at their word. So imagine my surprise when I ran into a little problem with trying to track down some relevant Facebook groups:
I found it weird that I couldn't see the Facebook group for Butler and Jackson's campaign, when I had been able to do so for my previous article on the election (TWF 324). So, naturally, I asked if other people could still see it, and their answer was "very clearly, yes." I saw so, myself, on another person's Facebook account, that the group and its posts still existed.
So, that almost certainly meant I was blocked from their Facebook group for asking this very question.
Since it's now the day after this issue, it's only fair to note that it appears I have since been un-blocked, because the group is visible again, but only after public complaint. I am not the only person who has experienced an inability to see their group; there's more than one person who has reported being being blocked from some groups or pages.
For what it's worth, I've been assured that I never was blocked, but I can't think of any explanation as to why others could see what I couldn't.
This feels like the early days of getting into stupid Facebook arguments as far back as 2010. Ahh, the old days of Mayor Hardwick trying to influence the School Board. (Mayor Kennedy has endorsed the Jackson/Butler ticket) The reason I mention it is because, again, this is a dive into my research practices as much as it is an analysis of background, and when I find something - shall we say - interesting in the research, I always report it.
It's hard to come up with a background record when part of it is obscured, even temporarily.
Moving on: I was looking for quotes. Let's see what I find.
What's Readily Available
I do have a very brief, but useful bit of a statement-on-safety from each of the four candidates, courtesy of the Long Island Herald:
Most of this is in the mold of boiler-plate obligations that political leaders have to say. I get it! Maria Jordan-Awalom provides a broader context to the problem of a nation-wide rise in school violence, based on her experience with police councils. This would lend some significant credence to the idea that, yes, there might be an ongoing spike! We will circle back around to this later.
But the thing I noticed that was particularly unusual was Mr. Ben Jackson's (I almost wrote "Mr. Jackson," but there are two candidates with that last name running, so I have to check myself) interest in increasing the amount of contact between the schools and the police department. It's couched in the Adopt-A-Cop program, which is certainly an interesting idea!
But, here, I have to think about my own experience in education.
I was an educator for about eight years, and five of them were spent in Freeport. When I later worked for NYC DOE, we frequently had contact with school-based police officers. The reception was definitely mixed; I'm sure I got a mostly-positive reception as I was a teacher (I even wore "work clothes!"), but I'm pretty sure the kids didn't share those feelings. Many of them told me they felt like they were labeled "bad kids" and otherwise stigmatized by things like having police in the school and having metal detectors and whatnot.
In other words, I know it did significant mental harm to them.
Now, I know from first-hand experience that there are days Freeport High breaks out the metal detector wands. Those days *suck,* by the way, but I get it. They happen! There's a known threat, or maybe it's just a random day once in a while to check things. Totally understandable.
But I've also had to be the guy who doesn't just de-escalate students, but de-escalates cops who are thinking of detaining his students instead of just talking through a problem. That was certainly an unpleasant day, and my fear is that adding police into the schools will create those type of problems when previously they didn't exist.
Could police be further integrated into the schools in an appropriate manner? Maybe! It's just very hard to say what will cross the fine line between, "We have a guest in the school today," and, "One more reminder I live my daily school life under surveillance by authorities who don't trust me to be free." And I haven't seen a stated plan-of-action anywhere, so my gut says, "Not without a clear plan, no."
(I am obliged to note, based on this invocation, that the Freeport Police Benevolent Association has endorsed Mr. Ben Jackson, as well as his running mate Mr. Butler.)
So there's your background - and some of it's mine, when it comes to talking about schools.
Now, let's look at some data starting with 2020-2021
This is mostly stream-of-consciousness, and a look into my research procedure as much as it is into data.
Thanks to a lead from one Scott McInnes (I tip my hat), I've been able to find data on what the school has reported to the state. The website to do this can be found from the NYS Department of Education, whereby first you have to pick a year. Then you download one of two spreadsheets - The choices are “NYC” or “not NYC,” so that's a lot of data to parse.
Thankfully, (Editorial Note: SOME OF) the spreadsheets are built with filters included.
I also have to note: 2020-2021 was the Pandemic's height. (Case numbers are climbing back up, by the way) Most kids weren't in school for most of the year. Much of the in-class time involved hybrid learning. I know - I was working in an elementary school for part of it.
Here's what you get when you look at Freeport for 2020-2021. It's not 21-22, but that year (which appears to be the entire point of this question!) isn't over. It'll require two separate images to put all the spreadsheet data out:
So, there you have the 2020-2021 data. Anyway, what we've got here starts with one - to be clear, this is bad - incidence of physical assault. I don't know how far a common fight has to get in order to be classified as "physical assault." It took place at Atkinson, if that's any help.
Moving on in a similar vein: The next thing that jumps out at me is that we've got a (very hard to parse) bit of data indicating that cyberbullying is a problem. I don't think that's anything particularly new, but there's also less than ten incidents of it. Now, yes, that needs to be worked on, but that's about one incident a month.
Then, on to the possession situation: 3 in Dodd, 3 in FHS. Okay. Kids shouldn't be doing drugs, should not selling them; we get that. We'd like those numbers to be better, but, also, as much as kids shouldn't do something, I'm not stupid enough to pretend they don't. At this point in my analysis, I can only note that number and get ready to look back to previous years for a trend.
There were also four incidents of weapons being brought to school. Two of these incidents happened in Atkinson, by the way, which I only stress because I've TA'd in an elementary setting and...Just, how does an elementary kid try sneaking a weapon in without their parents finding out? I guess it's pretty easy, it seems to happen all the time, but, wow.
Looking Back A Few Years Further.
Lemme just pull up the 2019-2020 data...
Yikes! Okay, so what you're telling me is it ISN'T nearly as accessible as the previous document. Now, then, here we are, Freeport, in between Roosevelt and Baldwin in this not-alphabetical list.
I'm going to be honest: TWF is a free publication, I don't charge for it, so I don't have money to pay a data analyst to break this down. You've only got me, and your own eyes if you want to take your own look. The highlighted column is for possession of weapons, so clearly that was more of a problem in 2019-2020 than 2020-2021. Which only makes sense.
My eye also caught the number 6 and got concerned, but when I scrolled up it didn't even tell me what the column was, so...I'm at a loss, but 6 is bad.
Maybe 2018-2019 will be more parseable?
Good news: It is. This is how a spreadsheet should look for accessibility.
Bad news: Just a first glance reveals some alarms.
And the second glance puts us into the double-digits:
I don't need to tell you that those numbers look worse.
They look worse.
How about 2017-2018? Garbled mess again:
I wonder if the data scientists who compile these reports finish them up in alternating years? Every other year the data makes sense and is well presented; every other year, it's virtually useless.
So we go between Roosevelt and Baldwin again...
Without much by way of context, these numbers seem to be less numerous than 18-19. Of course, those are kind of random data points.
So What Does The Data Show?
First: Most obviously, the 2020-2021 data is less than helpful as a baseline because of the Pandemic closures and hybrid learning modalities.
Second: Any numbers mean someone's had a really bad day, right? Whether it's possession of narcotics or something far worse, every incident means something broke down along the way. But what matters is how we react to it.
Third: This data isn't the complete picture.
What do I mean?
Chapter Two: Data can be incomplete, and is only ever part of the puzzle.
Here's where we take the broader context into consideration. I've got two rabbits and can only chase one at a time, but I'm about to cover both Jordan-Awalom's point about a nationwide increase in violence, and then I'm going to cover what's 'being said,' what I believe and know to be accurate about some stuff, and then finally offer a solution to at least one of the problems this data has raised.
First, to the idea of a nation-wide violence spike. Well, in November 2021, the publication Education Week put out an article detailing that there had been an increase in school violence. It gets a bit weirder; the same kind of thing was claimed in 2018 by USA Today (Interestingly, the 2018-2019 data looked particularly bad, earlier). But, also, in late February 2022, NBC 6 in South Florida reported on yet another ongoing increase in violence.
Let's take this reporting for what it is: The claim that school violence is increasing nationwide is grounded in evidence, but that evidence dates back to both before the Pandemic and after the Pandemic. So does that mean violence is on a continually increasing scale? Possibly! Or, could it mean there are tiny spikes at various times? Also possibly!
It's enough that we can't rule out that Freeport is simply seeing splash-over from a national trend.
But, let's now circle back to the claims, themselves.
What's really being said, and what does 'increase' even mean?
Well, first off, there's the general complaint, itself. "Violence is on the rise!" Well, I've seen those kind of claims before. I've seen it here, and I've seen it in other schools. It is a very easy political tool to use against incumbents, whether it's got a factual backing or not. But some of the stories I've heard from parents have really had an impact upon me, and I also have no reason to immediately assume they are false.
What I have is knowledge that there is a substantial amount of trouble, both inside the schools and taking place outside of, but nearby. Again, I have no reason to doubt what I've seen, regardless of where it came from. Apropos of everything, yes, it is concerning.
What I haven't seen (yet, anyway?) is evidence that this is an actual increase in unacceptable behavior. We know it's bad! We're told by some it's worse than ever, and just as we lack data to prove it is, we also lack data to prove it isn't. Certainly something needs to change, but what?
And does the problem have a Freeport-specific origin, or is it part of a nationwide trend that requires nationwide efforts to stop?
Let's make some suggestions!
Chapter Three: Conclusions And Recommendations.
What New York State Can Do ASAP:
We need to change the way school violence numbers are reported. Yearly simply doesn't cut it. Schools are supposed to take some degree of guidance from parents, but parents can't provide that guidance if they don't have data on what's going on right now.
I remember during the Coronavirus pandemic (which is still ongoing; I'm talking about the earlier days), that schools were mandated to publish real-time statistics on how many kids and staff contracted CoVID.
There is no reason this cannot be done with school violence statistics, except perhaps for having to shift workloads around or hire a new staff member to take care of it. This type of mandate must be coupled with funding to increase staff specifically for this purpose, but also for others so long as the data is compiled daily.
Ideally, this data would be published on the school's website, but it could be a state-maintained database that they link to.
That may require new laws to be passed. Discuss with your relevant NYS Assemblyfolk/Senators.
For all I know, it's as easy as publishing a spreadsheet file.
For all I know, it's legally prohibited!
And As For The Community...
Freeport simply has a hotly contested election on its hands. The claims are huge, and the publicly-available data to check them is slim. The possible solutions are many, but so is the possible blow-back. It's a fine line to walk. Your vote matters. You should vote.
Your subjective experience may vary! Maybe you've got family who goes to the school and has primary-source information that's got you thinking things are worse than ever. Maybe you've got some old memories of a time when things were pretty bad at the schools, yourself. (I'm lookin' back at you, 1990's, especially 97) Maybe you have seen a video on the internet that's got you shaken. Maybe you haven't experienced any problems, whatsoever.
It's up to you to vote based on what you believe.
As always, The Weekly Freeporter is not making any endorsements. I'm just providing you with one internet stranger's (or maybe pal's?) exploration into an issue that hits home. I hope it's been helpful.
Jesse Pohlman is a 'recovering teacher' and author born and raised in Freeport, New York. Thank you for reading, I hope it made you think.
