WORCESTER COUNTY, MD - At a press conference on school safety Friday, Worcester County Public Schools responded to claims on school safety incidents made by the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and State’s Attorney Kris Heiser.
In their presentation, the Worcester County Board of Education repeatedly refutes data presented by law enforcement earlier this week. The presentation goes on to say law enforcement’s claims were “instilling fear with false comparisons” and “deceiving the public.”
"I was saddened and frankly appalled to see our elected law enforcement leaders choose to manipulate student referral data as an attempt to say our schools were hotspots for assaults," said Superintendent Lou Taylor.
A spokesperson for Worcester County Public Schools emphasized a particular slide in their visual presentation labeled “Accuracy. Transparency.”
“This slide that includes current year school safety data clearly shows a downward trajectory for referrals in our school system, which is in direct opposition to the State's Attorney and Sheriff's assertions that crime is on the rise in our schools,” Public Relations Coordinator Carrie Sterrs said Friday.
Worcester County Public Schools goes on to dissect the statistics shared this week by law enforcement, claiming the data was skewed. The Sheriff’s Office and State’s Attorney’s Office, school officials claim, compared current school incident rates to rates during the COVID-19 pandemic when schools were closed in the second half of the school year and thus showed a much more dramatic increase in incidents.
"Of course we all remember that school buildings were closed that year from mid-March through the end of the school year due to the pandemic," said Taylor.
Worcester County Public Schools claim to show a more accurate comparison in looking at current rates compared to the 2018-2019 school year, before the pandemic. In using the same methodology as law enforcement, the Board of Education says they have seen far less increases in school safety incidents. School fights, for instance, were said to be up 171% by Worcester County law enforcement, while the Public School’s data shows a 42% increase.
The Board of Education also notes that law enforcement repeatedly cites “crime” data as opposed to “disciplinary referrals,” a distinction they emphasize by redacting the word “crime” from law enforcement’s original presentation numerous times.
"To label referrals as a WCPS assault rate while claiming that it is what we provided is an afront to our schools, our students and our staff," said Taylor.
In their response, Worcester County Public Schools also give a timeline of events in this ongoing back and forth with law enforcement, claiming the Sheriff’s Office and State’s Attorney’s Office expressed “grave concern” over school safety just 12 days into the school year and one month after the Board of Education had adopted a new memorandum of understanding with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Task Force and Board believed that the collaborative work was heading in a positive direction until the Board expressed concern over the inclusion of a video compilation of students,” the Worcester County Public Schools says in their response. A compilation of student fights was presented in the joint press conference between Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and the States Attorney’s Office earlier this week.
The Worcester County Board of Education says they had not been notified by law enforcement officials of the plans to hold a press conference on school safety concerns on Tuesday.
Board of Education President Todd Ferrante also noted the school system is working on implemented several of the suggestions put forth by law enforcement.
It includes exploring the addition of a high-level position to work with law enforcement and looking at funding to beef up the protection at schools.
"Law enforcement is aware that the school system has applied and received $43,000 from the Maryland Center for School Safety with the specific task of assessing our schools as hardened targets," said Ferrante.
Ferrante went on to say the Worcester County Sheriff's Office has agreed to implement that work by September.
The Worcester County State's Attorney and Sheriff's Office did provide a joint statement in response to Friday's press conference"
"The BOE President and Superintendent’s attempt to defend their reputation and minimize the amount of violence in our schools does nothing to reassure the public that they are making safety a priority. Despite their best efforts to label the Sheriff and State’s Attorney as liars and data-manipulators, their press conference today confirmed the two main points that law enforcement has been making for months: (1) that crime in schools is rising at an unacceptable rate and (2) that none of law enforcement’s recommendations to improve school safety have been implemented by Worcester County Public Schools. Now that the Board of Education and Superintendent have publicly acknowledged these two facts, we once again call on them to take immediate action on these recommendations to improve safety in our schools. State’s Attorney Heiser and Sheriff Crisafulli remain ready to support, advise and assist school leadership in this mission, and will continue to provide transparency for the public moving forward."
