47 students arrested at Carrol schools last year – Baltimore Sun

According to a recent report from the Maryland State Department of Education, there were 47 student arrests in Carroll County public schools during the 2022-2023 school year.

All 47 arrests were written arrests that occurred “when there was an officer-initiated referral or a request from school officials to Child Protective Services,” the April MSDE report said.

Twelve of the student arrests occurred at Gateway School, eight at Westminster High, seven at Manchester Valley High, six at South Carroll High, four at Francis Scott Key High, three at Winters Mill High, two at Westminster East Middle , one at Northwest Middle, one at Century High, one at Crossroads Middle, one at North Carroll Middle and one at Shiloh Middle. Gateway School provides an alternative high school environment, often for students who have disciplinary problems at their home schools.

Freshmen were arrested the most, accounting for 23 of the arrests, followed by sophomores, who were arrested 13 times. Physical altercations occurred in 27 arrests. Thirteen involved fights, another 13 involved physical attacks by students on other students, and one case involved a student physically attacking adults.

Of the remaining 20 arrests, 10 were for drugs or other controlled substances, three were for weapons, two were for disruption, two were for threats by students toward other students, one was for bullying or harassment, one was for arson or fire, and one for sexual harassment.

According to the school system, there are 25,787 students enrolled in Carroll public schools, so student arrests are rare compared to the student body as a whole. The school system declined a request for comment.

42 arrests resulted in the student being transferred to school. In five cases the students were assigned to an alternative school.

There were also 47 student arrests in Carroll County during the 2021-2022 school year. Both school years represent an increase from the 2015-2016 school year, in which student arrest data was released in the first year, when there were 23 arrests.

School resource officers initiated 43 of the 47 student arrests described in this article. Check back with the Carroll County Times next week for an interview on this topic with Phillip Lawrence, commander of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officers. Have an idea for a similar story? Contact the reporter at [email protected].