The production of the Safe Schools Report was launched in 2002 as a collaborative effort of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (CHPDP) with the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) School Health Unit. This report, formerly entitled The Violence and Vandalism Report, is produced from data that all of New Mexico’s 89 local school districts submit annually to the State Department of Education, for the period July 1 through June 30. Legislative statute (Article 1:22,107, Am. 1989) mandates that some of the data is to be reported annually; other information is required by PED policies and procedures, and to fulfill emergency response readiness and “no child left behind” state and federal regulations.

Three objectives are met in producing the report: first, it provides pertinent data for policy and decision makers at all levels of the educational level; second, it offers accurate information about incidents of various kinds of vandalism and violent events and trends in the schools; and third, it includes lists of resources for various interested constituencies about prevention and intervention measures. The most recent report produced is for the school year 2004-05. The data for the 2005-06 school year will be reported in FY07.

For additional information about this project, please contact Dr. Linda J. Peñaloza, (505) 272-4462 or LPeñaloza@salud.unm.edu.