Baltimore students who were murdered or shot had poor school attendance before they fell victim to the violence, according to new data released yesterday by the school system and health department.
Between 2003 and 2007, 115 youths in Baltimore were killed, and 405 were victims of non-fatal shootings, Health Department figures show. The school system was able to retrieve attendance data going back to 1999 for 391 of the 520 total victims. The Health Department pooled the data from the two agencies.
The youths were absent from school an average of 46 days annually, and more than two-thirds of them had been suspended or expelled at least once.
The data are intended to illustrate the public health implications of truancy and suspension as city schools chief Andres Alonso tries to get the entire community involved in improving Baltimore's educational system. Alonso also is urging principals to find alternatives to suspension for nonviolent offenses to keep students off the streets.
"Many, many of our students end up as victims of homicides and shootings, and we see the correlation to the fact that they're not in school," Alonso told reporters yesterday. He said what's happening to those students is "a dereliction of duty" by the community.
The release of the information comes on the heels of several high-profile incidents of violence involving Baltimore's schools and students, which prompted Alonso to issue a public call for community volunteers.
In the latest incident, a mother interrupted a class yesterday morning at Calverton Elementary/Middle and started a fight with the teacher.
Calverton has been under lockdown twice in the past month because of shootings in the neighborhood, and on Sunday, two 13-year-old students allegedly broke into the school, and one has been accused of trying to rape a staff member who was there doing extra work.
Among the findings of the review, which examined the attendance files of 83 homicide victims and 308 non-fatal shooting victims:
Youths who became victims of homicides and shootings attended an average of 105 days of school per academic year, an attendance rate of 68 percent. While an academic year has 180 days, the students were enrolled for an average of only 151 days, likely indicating that they were frequently moving between schools.
Before the homicide or shooting, 261 victims - 67 percent - were suspended or expelled at least once.
