Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 29, 2014 FLOW Area District issues annual violence & vandalism report by Frank J. McMahon Ramapo Indian Hills Superintendent Beverly MacKay recently presented the regional high school district’s 2013-14 annual report on violence and vandalism to the school board. The state requires a violence and van- dalism report every six months. The latest report for the complete 2013-14 school year showed improvement, especially in the number of incidents of violence since the 2008-09 school year, although there was an increase in the incidents of violence and vandalism since the 2012-13 school year. During the two reporting periods of the 2013-14 school year, there were 15 incidents of violence or fights, an increase of five since 2012-13 school year; six incidents of vandalism, such as theft, in 2013-14 versus two incidents of vandalism in 2012-13; zero incidents of weapons offenses, which was the same in 2012-13; and 11 incidents of substance abuse offenses, such as pos- session or distribution, down from 13 in 2012-13. A fight is defined as a mutual engage- ment in a physical confrontation that may result in bodily injury to either party. It does not include a verbal confrontation or a minor confrontation, such as a shoving match, and each participant must be clas- sified as an offender. A simple assault is when a person attempts to cause, or pur- posely, knowingly, or recklessly causes, bodily injury to another person. In 2008-09, there were 30 incidents of violence, six incidents of vandalism, one weapons offense, and 20 substance abuse offenses. The peak year for incidents of violence was 2009-10, when there were 40 incidents. The peak year for vandalism incidents was 2010-11, when there were six incidents -- the same as this year. The peak year for weapons offenses was 2011- 12, when there were two incidents, and the peak year for substance abuse incidents was 2009-10, when there were 24 inci- dents. The number of incidents of harassment, intimidation, or bullying decreased to 24 since record keeping began in 2011-12. During that school year, there were a total of 50 reported incidents, eight of which were determined to be incidents of harass- ment, intimidation, or bullying, while 42 were not considered to be such incidents. In 2013-14, 18 of those reported incidents were found not be incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying. The number of out-of-school suspen- sions as a result of the acts of violence, vandalism and substance abuse was 35, while the number of in-school suspensions was 23 for 2013-14. During the public meeting, the school board approved a resolution recognizing the week of Oct. 20 to 24 as School Vio- lence Awareness Week. Violence and vandalism reports are required under the 1982 Public School Safety Law that was enacted by the New Jersey Legislature in response to the prob- lem of violence and vandalism in the state’s public schools. These reports are submitted to the com- missioner of education, who must submit a report to the education committees of the Senate and General Assembly detailing the extent of violence and vandalism in the public schools and making recommenda- tions to alleviate those problems. New staff members (continued from page 4) the University of Connecticut with an Eng- lish degree before studying theology at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. She then worked with young people, serving as a youth pastor in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a master’s in English Education from Teacher’s College at Columbia Uni- versity and completed her student teaching at Ridgewood High School. The following new staff members joined the IHHS Special Education Department. Joanna Blau graduated from IHHS in1995 and later graduated from Ramapo College. She has taken post-graduate courses at Rutgers University, Marygrove College, and Fairleigh Dickinson Univer- sity. She holds permanent certification as a teacher of the handicapped and as a teacher of English. Her experience includes teach- ing students with significant special needs in private school settings, and teaching English and special education in public school settings in New Jersey. Kathryn Henry is a 2009 graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she received a BA in English Literature. Henry earned her K-12 teaching certifications in both English and mathematics from Cente- nary College in 2011. In 2014, she gradu- ated from Rowan University with an MA in educational leadership. Henry currently holds a standard certificate as a teacher of mathematics and a certificate of eligibil- ity with advanced standing as a teacher of English. Lucy Meyer is a recent graduate of Wil- liam Paterson University, where she com- pleted the required courses for eligibility with advanced standing for both social studies and teacher of students with dis- abilities certification. Meyer had worked in the business world for several years. Samantha Parnes is a 2011 graduate of William Paterson University, where she majored in secondary education and applied mathematics. She currently holds a standard certificate in mathematics, K- 12. Parnes come to IHHS from Northern Valley Regional High School.