State audit finds need for better compliance with school violence reporting law

ALBANY – The State Education Department has agreed to improve its enforcement of the State Schools Against Violence in Education Act after a state audit found schools failed to report several cases of violence and disruptive incidents and misclassified dozens of others, often as less serious events, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Tuesday.
The comptroller looked at seven school districts outside New York City, including one in the Hudson Valley.
Its findings included that Pleasantville High School in Westchester County did not report 20 of the 36 incidents it should have, including 10 incidents of intimidation, harassment, menacing or bullying.
Other districts reviewed including East High School in Rochester, Schenectady High School, Fulton Junior High School, Castleton Academy High School in Oceanside, the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central and Burgard Vocational High School in Buffalo.
DiNapoli recommended the state Ed department conduct and document a risk assessment related to compliance with the SAVE Act and Violent and Disruptive Incident Report.