Suspensions Due To Fighting 'Dramatically Decreased' At Hillsborough High School

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The entire Hillsborough Township School District saw a decrease in suspensions due to fighting, said Superintendent Michael Volpe on Monday.

Volpe provided the results from the district's Student Safety Data System Reporting at Monday's Board of Education meeting.

The data is reported twice a year. The information from Monday included the second reporting period from Jan. 1 to June 30.

"One thing I am proud about when it comes to our school safety data system reporting is that suspensions due to fighting at our high school this past year have dramatically decreased," said Volpe.

He said the number dropped around 80 percent for the high school.

"For the entire school district, the suspensions due to fighting overall were down 60 percent," said Volpe. "Due to the hard work of not only the administration but our new safety and security efforts under the leadership of David Stokoe."

Former Randolph Police Chief David Stokoe was hired for the new position of Coordinator of School Security Operations in January 2024.

Over the reporting period 2, there were 40 total incidents across the district, which included violence, vandalism, substances, weapons, and HIB confirmed. Of the 40, 28 were at the high school, four at Auten Road, six at the middle school, and two at Hillsborough Elementary.

For violence(which includes assault, kidnapping, robery/extortion, sexual assault, sexual contact, threat/simple, and threat/criminal), there were 13 reports the high school, 3 at Auten Road, 4 at the middle school, and two at Hillsborough Elementary.

For vandalism(which includes arson, computer trespass, damage to property, false public alarm theft, and trespassing), there were four reports at the high school, one at Auten Road, and one at the middle school.

For substances, there were eight reports at the high school.

For weapons, there was one report at the high school and one at the middle school.

There were also four reports of HIB(Harrassment, Intimidation, and Bullying) at the high school.

Other incidents leading to removal included 66 at the high school, 13 at Auten Road, 21 at the middle school, and one at Hillsborough Elementary.

For HIB alleged, there were 20 reports at the high school, three at Auten Road, two at the middle school, and one at Hillsborough Elementary.

See the full results below:

"What I am looking to do as Superintendent is to look at this more longitudinally to see where we have spikes and see where we might have things getting better," said Volpe.

Volpe added that he will be comparing these six months to the past two or three six-month periods and "see if we are moving in the right direction."

He will then report out to the Board any data findings that he finds when he does that comparative analysis.

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.