HOWELL – Incidents of violence, vandalism, and bullying were discussed at the most recent meeting of the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education.
Districts are required to record numbers of incidents so they can address them appropriately.
According to a presentation by the district’s Director of Safety, Operations, and Security, Michael Mendes, there has been a decrease in the overall amount of these incidents from last year.
To calculate how many incidents they had in the 2024-2025 school year, the board broke up the school year into two phases. Phase one included the 2024 portion of the year, while phase 2 included the 2025 portion of the school year. They then added both of these phases together to get their total for the whole school year.
The yearly total for violence incidents was 33, a decrease from 41 the year prior. The category Violence included simple assaults, sexual contact, sexual assault, threats, and fights. Simple assaults are an act of physical harm that does not seriously injure someone, where the victim does not retaliate. According to the presentation, there were 11 incidents this year, up from 10 last year. Zero cases of sexual contact were recorded this year, down three from last year. Sexual assault remained at zero from last year. Threats increased by one this year, and fights dropped from 17 to 10 in one year.
Vandalism was broken up into several categories as well. Zero incidents of damage to property were recorded this year, down one from last year. False public alarms went up by one this year compared to last year, when they had no incidents. One theft was recorded this year, down one from last year. Trespassing incidents remained at zero. Possession of a weapon went up from one last year to five this year, while violence with a weapon remained at zero. All recorded incidents of a weapon involved a knife of some kind.
According to the presentation, confirmed cases of substance use were brought down by ten from 31 last year to 21 this year. 27 recorded incidents of substance possession dropped from 38 incidents last year. Distribution incidents remained the same at two. Possession of drug paraphernalia incidents increased by one from last year, with this year’s total being 2. All recorded instances of substance use/possession involved marijuana.
The harassment, intimidation, and bullying cases were all grouped under the same category and recorded in the same numbers. There were 65 confirmed cases of harassment, intimidation, and bullying this year, down from 72 confirmed last year. Alleged cases also dropped from 50 last year to 25 this year, according to the presentation.
On the last slide of his PowerPoint presentation, Mendes listed all of the resources the district is using to combat these issues. A few of these resources include providing a student assistance coordinator and counseling services, student mentors, grade-level meetings and assemblies, a week of violence awareness activities, and education services provided by the curriculum.
He also mentioned restorative practices, community partnership and alliances, and a memorandum of agreement with local law enforcement, but did not elaborate on the details of what these points meant.
