NC school crimes and suspensions drop for 2nd year in a row. Violence is ‘rare.’
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- Reported school crimes dropped 6.1% in 2024–25 to 11,470 incidents statewide.
- Two-thirds of incidents were substance or alcohol related; violent acts were 2.6%.
- Short-term suspensions fell 8.6% to 238,877; long-term suspensions declined 6.3%.
School crimes and student suspensions dropped for the second year in a row in North Carolina but remain above pre-pandemic levels.
New figures released Wednesday show 11,470 reported crimes and acts of violence in schools in the state for the 2024-25 school year — a 6.1% decrease from the prior school year and a 13.8% drop from two years ago.
Short-term suspensions also dropped last school year.
State leaders stressed the trends of the last two years at Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting. State Superintendent Mo Green said the new report shows very strong levels of safety in North Carolina’s public schools.
“This data I think certainly shows that there’s work to be done to address certain instances of reportable criminal offenses, for example,” Green said. “But it is good to know that the vast majority of our schools experience minimal such acts and that more than 99% of our public school students are not committing these acts.
“It’s also encouraging to see that we have a downward trend on these offenses and also declines in suspensions.”
Overall though, the number of school crimes is 20% higher than in the 2018-19 school year. Both crimes and suspensions are higher than they were before the pandemic, a trend that school officials have blamed in part to the disruption caused in learning.
“The context of the educational environment has changed since COVID,” Michael Maher, chief accountability officer of the state Department of Public Instruction, told the state board.
Violent school crimes are ‘rare’
The majority of school crimes are not violent. Possession of a controlled substance and alcohol account for two-thirds of the reported crimes.
Violent crimes accounted for 2.6% of the reported acts. DPI counts offenses such as sexual assault and robbery as violent crimes but lists possession of a weapon and possession of a firearm among what it calls “reportable crimes.”
Out of the state’s 2,706 schools, 78% had five or fewer acts of crimes reported.
“So while every incident matters, the data shows that severe violence is rare and the most common challenges schools are managing are behavioral and substance related — not widespread physical harm,” Maher said.
Of the four most reported offenses, there were decreases last school year in possession of a weapon, assault on school personnel and possession of alcohol. The most reported offense of possession of a controlled substance increased 1.5%.
Maher said less than 1% of the state’s 1.5 million public school students accounted for the reported crimes.
“More than 99% of our students in our public schools were not involved in a violent crime or a reportable offense,” Maher said.
Suspensions down
There were 223,877 short-term suspensions reported last school year. That’s an out-of-school suspension of 10 days or less.
Short-term suspensions were down 8.6% from the prior school year and 10.6% from two years ago.
There was a 6.3% decrease in long-term suspensions to 684 statewide.
The high school dropout rate also declined.
Fewer than 13% of students received a suspension, expulsion or were placed in an alternative learning center for disciplinary reasons.
Disparities in suspension and crime numbers
DPI said there were patterns in the data:
- The highest subgroups by number or rate are the same: male, Black, two or more races, economically disadvantaged and students with disabilities.
- Middle schools have higher rates of suspensions than other grade levels.
- Ninth grade in high school has the highest rate of suspensions and reported crimes.
The trends led DPI staff to make recommendations such as start an initiative to help middle school students transition to high school and continue to train schools on discipline and dropout data.
Maher cautioned against drawing causal explanations based on the student subgroup data. He noted that the same patterns are also seen in test data and student attendance.
“Discipline is not a standalone issue,” Maher said. “Effective solutions need to connect attendance, behavior, academic support student services.”
For years, the State Board of Education has raised concerns about the disparities in discipline data, including Black students receiving harsher suspensions than white students for the same offense. State board member Reginald Kenan thanked Maher for emphasizing that the student subgroup data isn’t an explanation for the numbers.
“This report, if it’s not understood, will make someone think that certain races, certain students are problem makers and can’t get educated because certain students are in the classroom,” Kenan said. “The data is great when you understand it.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 2:40 PM with the headline "NC school crimes and suspensions drop for 2nd year in a row. Violence is ‘rare.’."
