Are Pequea Valley schools twice as safe as Cocalico schools?

Are Ephrata's schools three times as dangerous as Octorara's?

A glance at state statistics on school safety might give you that impression.

After all, PV schools had less than one fight, assault, theft or other incident per 100 students in 2008-09, while Cocalico schools had 1.7 per 100 students.

Ephrata had 2.9 offenses per 100 pupils, while Octorara had 0.95 per 100.

How could districts with similar demographics have such different numbers?

One reason is the way the data is reported.

Schools report the information to the state. And although there are guidelines on what constitutes a fight or bullying, for instance, it's up to individual school administrators to determine if an offense occurred and to report it on the state's database.

A reportable incident of harassment in one district may be viewed as an argument between students that doesn't get reported in another district.

Variations in district policies and reporting procedures also can affect the numbers, as can a change in a school's principal — the person generally tasked with logging the data.

The numbers also tend to go up initially when schools implement new measures to improve safety — security cameras, school resource officers and anti-bullying programs, for instance.

School officials say the reporting system is a double-edged sword.

Submitting accurate data on school offenses helps them focus on problem areas and make their schools safer.

But the public can become alarmed at the big numbers.

"If the numbers go up, instead of us appearing proactive, the public tends to think there's a problem," said Stephanie Gingrich, spokeswoman for Ephrata Area School District.

"There aren't problems in our buildings. We have great students."

Offenses in Ephrata schools last year more than doubled from the previous year.

That happened, Gingrich said, because the district began using security cameras at the high school, stepped up random drug sweeps at its secondary schools and implemented a districtwide anti-bullying program.

Ephrata also began using its school resource officer to handle more disciplinary matters, boosting the number of "incidents involving local law enforcement" from 35 to 50.

Other schools log incidents in that category only if a police officer from outside is called to the school.

Cocalico experienced a surge last year when it tightened its discipline policies, including cracking down on tobacco violations, assistant superintendent Dave Davies said.

Of the 51 arrests it reported — an increase of 32 from the previous year — 15 were for students possessing or using tobacco on school property.

"If you do something in school that you'd be arrested for outside of school, it's going to be treated the same way here," Davies said.

"We want to keep our schools safe, and you have to be a little hard-nosed about it. Our threshold of tolerance is pretty low. We don't have many fights, so when they happen, (students) get arrested."

Do the higher numbers mean Cocalico's schools have become less safe?

Davies answers with an emphatic "no."

"I've been in education for 30 years, and schools are much safer today than they were back then," he said.

School District of Lancaster also is diligent about reporting incidents at its schools — even though that can generate negative press, said Pam Smith, coordinator of the Safe Schools, Healthy Students program.

"The expectation in our district is that you report it the way it's happening," she said. "We really have been trying to focus on transparency."

Smith also cites a pragmatic reason for being forthright.

"When you're honest about what's happening, that's how you get the resources you need" to address problems, she said.

The state Legislature is considering a bill that would impose penalties on school officials who underreport incidents of violence and other offenses at their schools.

Senate Bill 56 also would force districts to work more closely with local police departments, which would be required to sign off on school safety data before it's submitted to the state.

The bill is awaiting a review by the House Education Committee.

Until new regulations are enacted, though, the data will continue to be monitored by the Department of Education.

"We do spot-check the numbers to make sure the information is reported and it appears to be accurate," department spokesman Michael Race said.

"If (a district) has a few dozen bullying incidents every year, and then it goes to zero, that's something we'd follow up on.

"But that said, the people on the ground really have to be vigilant in keeping track of these numbers and submitting it to the state."

bwallace@lnpnews.com