LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The number of fights reported at Jefferson County Public Schools has significantly dropped through the first months of the 2021-22 academic year, but some schools have experienced sharp increases in that time, according to data obtained Wednesday by WDRB News.
The district reported 6,828 fights through the first 72 days of the 2021-22 year, which covers Aug. 11 through Dec. 1. That total is down 41.1% from the 11,592 fights reported by JCPS schools in the same 72-day period in the 2019-20 school year and 31.4% from the 9,959 fights recorded in that span during the 2018-19 term.
JCPS offered only virtual learning for most of the 2020-21 school year as part of its COVID-19 mitigation strategy, so no fights occurred in schools during that time. The district transitioned to hybrid instruction schedules starting in late March.
Data provided by JCPS in response to an open records request includes student-to-student fights, student-to-student striking and student-to-staff striking in its reporting of fighting incidents, according to the district.
Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, believes teachers have entered the 2021-22 school year with an understanding of the “traumatic, unusual circumstances” JCPS students have experienced, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Students are bringing a lot of trauma with them, and there may be things that (teachers) would have written up before that they’re trying to handle more compassionately now and approach it from a trauma-informed perspective,” McKim said Wednesday. "But we certainly hear from our members that there are ongoing discipline and behavior challenges in buildings.”
Most JCPS schools reported drops in the number of student fights, and many have seen such incidents drop by at least half so far this school year compared to 2019-20. Data show that more than 100 schools and specialty programs have seen student fights decline and that about half of those schools and programs have experienced at least half as many fights in the first 72 days of this academic year compared to 2019-20.
JCPS data show some of the steepest declines in student fighting have come from the district’s elementary schools, 50 of which reported drops of at least 50% so far this year compared to 2019-20.
Coral Ridge Elementary and Stopher Elementary, for instance, reported no fights in the first 72 days of 2021-22 after students fought 16 times and nine times, respectively, in the same span of 2019-20.
Norton Elementary, Sanders Elementary, Dixie Elementary, Price Elementary, Brandeis Elementary, Hazelwood Elementary, Field Elementary and Hartstern Elementary have seen at least 90% reductions in student fights so far this school year, according to district data.
Nearly all of the 15 schools and programs that reported at least 100 fewer fights this school year compared to 2019-20 are elementary schools, district data show. Maupin Elementary, Coleridge-Taylor Elementary, McFerran Preparatory Academy, Price Elementary, Shelby Traditional Academy, Shacklette Elementary, Jacob Elementary, Frayser Elementary, Kennedy Montessori Elementary, Byck Elementary, Zachary Taylor Elementary and Sanders Elementary have all seen triple-digit declines in student fighting incidents so far this school year, JCPS data show.
The steepest declines in overall fights from the first 72 school days of 2019-20 to 2021-22 have come from schools that serve students with disabilities. Fights have dropped by 619 at Binet School and by 294 at Waller-Williams Environmental School, according to district data. Both schools have experienced declines of about 68% in students fights so far this year, data show.
The district’s alternative schools also reported steep drops in student fights, according to JCPS data. Minor Daniels Academy reported seven student fights in the first 72 days of this school year, a nearly 91% decline from the 76 fights recorded during 2019-20, and Breckinridge Metropolitan High had nine fights involving students in the same time period, down about 75% from the 35 student fights reported during the first 72 days of 2019-20.
Not all JCPS schools have seen their fighting, student-to-student striking and student-to-staff striking incidents drop so far this school year, however.
Forty-one district schools reported more fights this year than in the first 72 days of the 2019-20 school year, JCPS data show.
Of those, 17 have seen fights increase by at least 50% during the 2021-22 school year compared to 2019-20 and eight have reported more than double the number of fights in that time, according to JCPS data.
Goldsmith Elementary reported 252 student fights so far this school year, a nearly 400% increase from the 51 fights that occurred in the first 72 days of the 2019-20 school year, district data show.
The spike in fights at Goldsmith Elementary was the most for JCPS schools in terms of overall and percentage increases. The school was the only one in JCPS to see a triple-digit increase in the total number of fights this year compared to 2019-20 school year. Johnson Traditional Middle had the second largest increase in overall fights, reporting 49 more physical altercations involving students in the first 72 days of the 2021-22 school year compared to 2019-20.
Goldsmith Elementary recorded the second-most student fighting incidents among JCPS schools and programs in the first 72 days of 2021-22, trailing only the 296 reported at Binet School.
Other schools that reported at least twice as many fights during the first months of 2021-22 compared to 2019-20 have experience far fewer physical altercations involving students, according to JCPS data.
Atherton High, for instance, reported a 260% increase in student fighting incidents this year from the 2019-20 academic term, climbing to 18 fights this year from the five recorded in 2019-20 through the first 72 school days. Fights at duPont Manual High jumped 200% from 2019-20 to this year but remained in the single digits, increasing from two to six in that span.
Student fighting incidents at W.E.B. DuBois Academy also increased 200% from 2019-20, climbing from 12 in the first 72 days of 2019-20 to 36 so far this school year. Other schools that saw fights double in the first 72 days of this school year from 2019-20 are Valley High, which reported 63 student fights and a 152% increase this year; Auburndale Elementary, which recorded 65 student fights this year and a 132% uptick from 2019-20; and Johnson Traditional Middle, which saw 95 student fights and a 106.5% increase this year.
McKim said teachers from schools that have seen fights involving students increase this year have requested meetings with JCPS administrators to share their experiences with student misbehavior and discuss possible solutions.
“We are arranging for those sorts of meetings to occur with the district, and we appreciate the district’s cooperation and willingness to do that,” he said.
McKim believes some JCPS schools have seen drops in student fights after successfully implementing trauma-informed care and restorative practices in handling student misbehavior, and he hopes JCPS can take cues from other large school districts that have addressed similar issues in their buildings.
“I think the district has been working hard to implement trauma-informed approaches to schools and to implement restorative practices, and where those things are implemented well, they can make a real positive difference,” he said. “... We need to look at where are there some school districts that are large like us that made changes that really worked, and let’s see what they did and see if it would work for us.”
“Creating a positive culture and climate in our schools is one of pillars in JCPS,” Renee Murphy, head of communications for JCPS, said in a statement. “Through restorative practices, our bullying prevention department, and training in de-escalation strategies, we have measures in place to reduce incidents and peacefully resolve conflicts that may arise.”
McKim also expects some schools have not reported as many physical altercations involving students this year because of the “perceived” pressure for principals to better manage student behavior incidents.
“No principal wants to be the one with more numbers or numbers going the wrong way,” he said.
A copy of school-by-school student fight data provided by JCPS and calculations of overall differences and percentage changes conducted by WDRB News can be downloaded below:
JCPS fighting incidents through first 72 days of 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22. Data includes student-to-student fights, student-to-student str…
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