NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A new report shows the number of Tennessee schoolchildren committing zero tolerance offenses has increased 31 percent during the last decade, but there’s been improvement in the last couple of years.
Those offenses include drug possession or use, firearms possession and battery against staff members and generally result in transfer to alternative school, expulsion or suspension.
The report from the state comptroller’s office looked at data from 1999 through 2008 and found that ninth-graders made up the majority of offenders.
The offenses peaked in the 2005-2006 school year at a rate of 3.7 offenses per 1,000 students, but that number has been dropping since.