Weapons violations decrease in schools

Is this suppose to make me feel better?

haha cash county. Get your shi* together

These figures are obviously inaccurate. For instance, at Richmond Academy this spring a huge gang-related fight broke out, but the data shows no gang activity at ARC (or Josey, Glenn Hills, or Laney). A few years ago an inept principal was reprimanded and removed for underreporting incidents at Morgan Road, but the Morgan Road data are still skimpy.

BTW - what ever happened to that principal? Hopefully, she was fired and has found a more suitable career. Unfortunately Richmond County has a pattern or recycling trash.

Augmama, I think you are talking about Murphey Middle School...not Morgan Road.

Could be, CorrectInfo. Sorry for the error.

But who knows? with this county's track record. You might have been right again about Morgan, it might have similar problems to Murphey. Hope not, though. I'm just glad I made sure my children didn't go to Murphey.

Whoops! That's meat cleAver, not clever, in your first sentence Greg and Betty. Spellcheck can't catch errors like those.

Statistics are great and can be read many different ways. For example, you may actually believe their are less weapons in Richmond County Schools this year but simple discussions with the students about weapons and drugs on campus, especially the high schools will provide you with more than these statistics. As for Columbia County, there probably aren't any more weapons on campus this year than last year for the minimal change in numbers just more were found this year. Drugs are more prevelant although cases are minimal and a majority of students on campus can tell you who to get them from. Campus Police Officers, Teachers, Administrators and Teachers working together to keep the schools safe no matter what the statistics yield is the best way to handle matters. In many cases, schools are safer when the numbers are actually increasing or much higher because in reality, the weapons and drugs are there but if they are making more arrests and filing more reports then the stats will go up but then the school board will try to restrict the actions of the officers and bury their heads in the sand in many cases to prevent it from looking at the real problems within the schools.

One thing you also need to look at is the size of the school.

as a CCBOE teacher, i can tell you one reason the stats are higher: teachers & administrators take absolutely no chances regarding the immediate reporting of any weapons at school. in the past, i know that if a student self-reported, the administrator may allow the child to simply call home and have a parent come to the school to pick up the object (such as having a knife in a lunchbox or a pocketknife in a pair of jeans following a hunting weekend). no longer: every single teacher i have talked to agrees that the administrators at their school are following the letter of the law now regarding weapons on school property rather than dealing with each incident on a case-by-case basis. while this might seem draconian, the students & parents are learning that they must be involved in the process of school safety and i, for one, applaud the terrible statistics: we're catching them and reporting them, not giving them the benefit of doubt.

We all who are concerned about the safety of the school environments where our loved ones work and attend classes must pray that "bone" is correct in his/her analysis. Of course, the presence of Clay and Steve on County Camp Road in Appling does wonders to encourage full disclosure in Columbia County schools. We Columbia countians are lucky to employ professional lawmen who are not afraid to enforce state drug and weapons laws.

Additionally, we're lucky that we have in Charlie Nagle a school superintendent who's interested in solving drug- and weapons-related problems rather than in "making them go away" as was the case in at least one previous administration.

as much as i dislike charlie nagle, i have to agree that he has changed the climate at schools: no longer do administrators worry that they are going to be accused of "making trouble" if they call the county office or other agencies when problems occur.

Bone knows whereof s/he speaks. In December 1999, when I brought allegations of drug-, weapons- and student misconduct-related problems at GBHS to the attention of the previous administration, I was threatened with "ruining your educational career"(AKA termination) and was fined $500. The adverse actions directed at me would have been much worse but for the intercession of Jack Batson(706-737-4040), a deceased lifelong attorney friend with a deserved reputation for his first-class legal mind and his junkyard dog-temperament, and another highly-placed local attorney who must remain anonymous- and, no, it's not Danny Craig.

Yeah weapon violations are down in Richmond County because they are changing how they report them to the public and state. How does a student bring a knife to school and the write gets changed from a weapon violation to non-compliance of the rules. Richmond county boe police and those over discipline is a joke. When someone gets killed in the classroom, maybe someone will listen.

Sounds like alot of Columbia County residents are in denial about there own picture perfect schools, especially Greenbriar and Harlem high schools, did you see those double digit numbers? sooo sad! Besides how can you say Richmond county is a joke when the numbers has decreased they are doing something in the right direction. As for CC parents and residents they should be glad these numbers are out so they can be addressed and take action , not worry about how many richmond county has reported. But those numbers in CC are at an alarming rate, especially when you compare high schools in both counties. When you compare 4 high schools against 10 high schools, and those numbers of the 4 high schools outweigh those 10 high schools that should be an exxxtreme wake up CALL!!!!!

no denial here, bigbert. i'm sure alarmists and other knee-jerk types will paint this as a sign that CCBOE is in freefall. i can tell you, though, that i've taught for nearly 10 years in CC and i feel safer today knowing that concern for safety has taken the place of obfuscating and misinformation. i don't think the stats from RC are worthy of praise and i suspect there is far more concern about underreporting when reviewing the data.

There is no proof that RC is underreporting any data. I see there some people hoping that they are not reporting all stats In other words take the negative focus off CC and make it balance out some. Until somebody can prove that RC is not reporting everything its not relevant. Besides if that were really true you and I both know wagt, wrdw, wjbf and especially the Augusta Chronicle would be all over Richmond County about that.

i simply stated an opinion, bigbert, much as you stated yours. after seeing the violence at ARC and then not seeing any reports of gang-related activity at the school, i question the integrity of the RC reporting mechanism; i am sure i could be wrong. on the other hand, you seem to believe that CCBOE engages in damage control to a high degree. i wouldn't disagree with you normally, but i honestly believe that with the departure of tommy price there is a desire to return to honesty in some areas. if only nagle weren't such a good old boy when it comes to playing favorites for his west lake chums...

The people at ARC all they did was flash signs about where they stay. Just because you and some friends live in the same area or neighborhood doesn't mean you are a gang. There is a diffrence between gangs running the schools like in new york. What till grovetown high is done by 2009. The number for weapons in columbia county schools will go up more.

are we having a semantic discussion regarding the correct definition of 'gang', motivated? in your own post you acknowledge that an underlying cause is thugs from neighborhoods or areas antagonizing one another until groups attacked. i'm sure there is some kind of sociological definition of groups that fit these violent neighborhood thugs, but i'll just refer to them as gangs. i completely agree with your assessment of GTHS: without getting into specifics, i believe the CCBOE has made some horrible errors in judgment when it comes to their decisions about this school. i hope i'm wrong, but GTHS could be a disaster.

Attacking one group. I have a younger cousin at ARC. He is in the IBM program. There were only about 5 kids fighting. The other little bit of kids around rest were just saying where they live. Some were saying harrisburg.. Why do you have to be a violent thug if you're just standing out of the fight watching. The only ones involved should be in trouble. Not the kids just standing around. There was a fight between the blood and crips last year at harlem. Were 30 people were fighting. Now thats gangs