NJ schools with the biggest drug and violence problems

TRENTON — Drugs and bullying are on the rise in New Jersey schools, according to a New Jersey 101.5 review of Department of Education data.

Public and charter schools reported 3,157 drug incidents in the 2016-17 school year, up from 3,010 the year before.

Schools also recorded 6,416 incidents of bullying, up from 5,995 the year before.

There was, however, some positive news in the data released recently as part of the NJ School Performance Reports. Violence, weapons and vandalism incidents held steady or decreased.

Last year, schools recorded 8,245 instances of violence, 16 fewer than the year before. Incidents with weapons increased by 93 for a total of 1,093. And vandalism incidents fell from 1,423 to 1,348.

Violence is defined as assault, criminal threats and extortion, fights (but not minor verbal confrontations or shoving matches), robbery and sexual contact.

Vandalism includes theft or damage to property, pulling a fire alarm or calling in a bomb threat — the kind that were largely reported this year in New Jersey following the school shooting in Florida. Threats for this school year will be counted in next year's data.

Weapons include anything that could cause harm — from a sling shot to an explosive to a firearm. It does not, however, include toy guns.

As New Jersey 101.5 has found in the past, some districts do a more thorough job of reporting incidents than others. Some districts might also over-report incidents such as shoving matches as violence.

In the list below, we show the Top 5 schools in each county with the highest rate of drug/violence/bullying incidents. The rate was calculated by the state as the number of incidents per every 100 enrolled students. (Larger schools might have a higher number of incidents than the schools in this list, but the schools on the list have a higher concentration of incidents for their size.)

You can find detailed NJ Performance School Reports for your school at the Department of Education website.

ATLANTIC

BERGEN

BURLINGTON

CAMDEN

CAPE MAY

CHARTERS

CUMBERLAND

ESSEX

GLOUCESTER

HUDSON

HUNTERDON

MERCER

MIDDLESEX

MONMOUTH

MORRIS

OCEAN

PASSAIC

SALEM

SOMERSET

SUSSEX

UNION

WARREN

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-359-5348 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.