51% of school violence is in just 10 states

But study finds few factors link them

Fifty-one percent of all incidents of violence and threats against schools took place in just 10 states during the 2017-18 school year, a report released Monday finds.

California, Florida, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia, which are ranked the top 10 “states of concern,” accounted for 1,851 threats and episodes of violence out of 3,654 nationwide, according to the Educator’s School Safety Network.

Though this year’s states of concern are located around the country and have varying gun-control policies, a few factors link them, said Amy Klinger, director of programs at the ESSN and coauthor of the report.

States with hundreds of school districts may have problems coordinating responses to violence, Klinger said, pointing to Ohio’s 613 school districts. Ohio schools had 170 threats and 14 incidents of violence the past school year.

“It’s very difficult to make sweeping changes when you have 613 different government bodies making decisions,” she said.

Schools also might have a plan in place for an active shooter, but they rarely fund preventive measures such as training for teachers and administrators to address potential threats, Klinger said.

A rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February, in which 17 died, put a renewed focus on violence in the classroom and security and galvanized a student-run movement on gun control. President Donald Trump also ignited a firestorm by calling for teachers to be armed, and the debate continues to rage over how to stop the bloodshed.

Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and a gun-control policy expert, said certain states could see more threats or violence because of outside influences, such as access to guns in a community or the presence of gangs in urban areas.

“There’s a whole bunch of different factors that you can expect to lead to hotspots and gun violence on campus,” Winkler said.