Number of 'persistently dangerous' schools declines     Wednesday, August 3, 2005 By BONNIE PFISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS TRENTON - The number of schools labeled "persistently dangerous" in New Jersey has fallen from 10 to four, with the concentration of such schools moving from Camden to Trenton, the state Department of Education said Tuesday. For 2003-04, D'Ippolito Intermediate School in Vineland and Grace A. Dunn Middle School in Trenton remained on the list from the previous school year, while Trenton Central High School and Martin Luther King Middle School in Trenton joined the list. But state and local officials said New Jersey is more scrupulous in its reporting than most states, making its schools look more dangerous than the rest of the nation. "We are being penalized for taking the reporting seriously," said James Lytle, superintendent of 15,000-student Trenton school district. "The idea that there are no persistently dangerous schools in 47 states, and there are none in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago, and Trenton has three suggests there are some serious problems in both definition and reporting." States are required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act to report the number of dangerous incidents to the federal government. After three consecutive years with a certain number of incidents, schools are placed on the "persistently dangerous" list. It is up to each state to define what it considers dangerous, said William Modzeleski of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools. He urged local educators not to compare themselves with other states. New Jersey's list of dangerous incidents includes such things as assaults on students or staff, weapons possession, threats of violence, sex offenses, drug selling and arson. "I applaud New Jersey for doing a good job in setting the definition," Modzeleski said. For 2003-04, only Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Puerto Rico also reported having persistently dangerous schools. Parents of students in those schools can transfer their children elsewhere within their district, and the schools must file plans for corrective action. In Camden, four schools came off the list: Bonsall Elementary School, East Camden Middle School, Camden High School and South Camden Alternative School. Camden Superintendent Annette Knox attributed the district's improvement to new truancy initiatives, a school reorganization and changes in staffing. Other schools removed from the list for 2003-04 were Atlantic City High School, Patrick F. Healy Middle School in East Orange, Samuel L. Berliner School in Newark and Lincoln High School in Jersey City. http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDkmZm diZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY3MzgyNzgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky Back To Guvment Skool Page 8 COPYRIGHT "DUHMAG.COM" 2005