PA Schools Calling Police At Record Rate: See Complete Breakdown

PENNSYLVANIA — Authorities are being called to Pennsylvania schools at record rates, according to a Patch analysis of school police notification data.

Pennsylvania public schools called police 16,850 times during the 2022-23 school year, a 10 percent increase in calls from the year prior and more than a 13 percent increase since 2018-19 (the last full year before the pandemic), according to the latest PA School Discipline Report released by the Department of Education.

The latest report saw 238,694 total disciplinary incidents, including 2,901 possession of a weapon incidents, 5,498 possession/use of a controlled substance incidents, 2,222 bullying incidents and 4,892 arrests.

According to the report, nearly 300 schools reported zero incidents to the police while over 2,300 schools reported at least one during the 2022-23 school year.

You can view the full breakdown here.

The schools that called the police most frequently are:

1. Central Dauphin East SHS (Dauphin County): 254 calls
2. Chambersburg Area SHS (Franklin County): 205 calls
3. Reading SHS (Berks County): 154 calls
4. Central Dauphin East MS (Dauphin County): 153 calls
5. Bensalem Twp HS (Bucks County): 147 calls
6. Altoona Area HS (Blair County): 140 calls
7. Wyoming Valley West MS (Luzerne County): 128 calls
8. Liberty HS (Northampton County): 121 calls
9. Central Mountain HS (Clinton County): 119 calls
10. Highlands SHS (Allegheny County): 110 calls

The schools that reported the highest number of total disciplinary incidents are:

1. East Stroudsburg SHS South (Monroe County): 7383 incidents
2. Central Dauphin East SHS (Dauphin County): 2343 incidents
3. East Stroudsburg SHS North (Monroe County): 2192 incidents
4. J T Lambert Intermediate School (Monroe County): 2108 incidents
5. Perkiomen Valley HS (Montgomery County): 2074 incidents
6. Manheim Twp MS (Lancaster County): 1847 incidents
7. Pocono Mountain West HS (Monroe County): 1642 incidents
8. Lehman Intermediate School (Monroe County): 1627 incidents
9. Lincoln MS (Lancaster County): 1450 incidents
10. Reading SHS (Berks County): 1390 incidents

The schools that reported the highest number of weapon possession incidents are:

1. William Allen HS (Lehigh County): 29 incidents
2. Erie HS (Erie County): 26 incidents
3. Lincoln HS (Philadelphia County): 24 incidents
4. Pittsburgh Carrick HS (Allegheny County): 23 incidents
5. Central MS (Berks County): 21 incidents
6. Upper Darby SHS (Delaware County): 20 incidents
7. Norristown Area HS (Montgomery County): 19 incidents
8. Pottstown SHS (Montgomery County): 19 incidents
9. McCaskey Campus (Lancaster County): 18 incidents
10. Roxborough HS (Philadelphia): 17 incidents

The schools that reported the highest number of controlled substance possession/use incidents are:

1. Erie HS (Erie County): 55 incidents
2. Pittsburgh Allderdice HS (Allegheny County): 54 incidents
3. Boyertown Area SHS (Berks County): 52 incidents
4. Pittsburgh Carrick HS (Allegheny County): 51 incidents
5. Bensalem Twp HS (Bucks County): 51 incidents
6. Upper Darby SHS (Delaware County): 49 incidents
7. McDowell HS (Erie County); 48 incidents
8. Liberty HS (Northampton County): 43 incidents
9. Chambersburg Area SHS (Franklin County): 40 incidents
10. Reading SHS (Berks County): 39 incidents

The schools that reported the highest number of bullying incidents are:

1. Beaty-Warren MS (Warren County): 47 incidents
2. Nitschmann MS (Northampton County): 37 incidents
3. Neil A. Armstrong MS (Bucks County): 36 incidents
4. Mid Valley Secondary Center (Lackawanna County): 29 incidents
5. Penndale MS (Montgomery County): 23 incidents
6. Central Mountain MS (Clinton County): 23 incidents
7. Warren Area Elementary Center (Warren County): 22 incidents
8. Easton Area MS (Northampton County): 20 incidents
9. Charleroi Area MS (Washington County): 19 incidents
10. Northwestern SHS (Erie County): 18 incidents

Search your school district in the statewide breakdown here.