School violence down
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
Cherry Hill Sun
11/21/2007

Drop continues 10-year trend of decreasing violence in the Cherry Hill school district

District Director of Security Michael Nuzzo presented the district’s 2006-2007 annual report on Violence Statistics and School Security Measures at a recent meeting of the Cherry Hill Board of Education.

In the detailed presentation, Nuzzo reported that incidents of violence had decreased in the school district for the 2006-2007 school year.

Only 103 incidents of violence were reported, down from 116 just a year before, representing an 11 percent decrease.

This follows a trait of decreasing incidents in the district, as the numbers have been dropping since the 1996-1997 school year.

“The ratio of incidents to student enrollment has declined since we began compiling data in 1996-1997,” Nuzzo said. “In fact, they’ve declined despite an increase in enrollment over that period.”

There were no aggravated assaults and no assaults or injuries associated with a weapon, Nuzzo reported, and no sex offenses for the 2006-2007 school year.

He also highlighted a significant decrease in the number of incidents reported for substance abuse, possession and distribution in the school district for the 2006-07 school year.

There were six incidents reported in the possession of weapons category: three involved penknives, one involved an imitation gun, and two involved BB guns.

Although the number of simple assaults increased from 11 to 18 in the school district, Nuzzo said, the number of fights decreased from 16 to 12.

The state defines a simple assault as an altercation initiated by one person resulting in no serious injury.

A fight involves two or more individuals who mutually engage in a physical altercation with each other.

Nuzzo attributed the district’s low rate of reported incidents to a number of “Safe School Initiatives” that have been implemented in the district over the past decade.

Nuzzo specifically mentioned the district’s strong emphasis on character education, a strong partnership with local and county officials and zero tolerance for serious acts of violence, weapons and substance abuse.

The state Department of Education requires that school districts submit an Annual Violence and Vandalism Report to the Board of Education at a public meeting each year.

The Cherry Hill school district generally reports data for a number of years, rather than the state requirement of just reporting data for the current year.

“The rationale for our district’s unique reporting process is to develop a charting system that clearly identifies trends of behavior that tend to disrupt the educational process,” Nuzzo said at the meeting.

Cherry Hill Superintendent David Campbell commended Nuzzo and acknowledged the support of the Cherry Hill Police Department and Chief Charlie Jones for teaming together to educate Cherry Hill students.

Jones said the relationship between the school district and police department has been strong since Campbell became superintendent in 2006.

“Since Superintendent Campbell took over, we have had a very good working relationship with the district,” Jones said. “We also have a very good relationship with Mike Nuzzo.

“It’s really worked out for us over the past couple of years, and we have several successful programs established in the district.”

Cherry Hill police officers typically visit elementary, middle and high schools in the district for various programs.

Jones said officers visit the high school each year for a program on bullying and a new program called the “Officer Phil.”

The program is set to debut this year in the elementary school.

Jones said the “Officer Phil” program is a nationwide company that educates children about safety, crime prevention, values and responsibility in a way they will not only understand but also enjoy.

A live program is presented to students and is tailored toward the issues particular to a specific community.

“It’s important we start working with the younger students in our school district,” Jones said. “The program is specifically designed for elementary students and is nationally regarded as a successful one.”