Philadelphia students and teachers received some good news on Wednesday just in time for the start of the school year. For the first time since 2001, the Philadelphia School District has no schools designated as persistently dangerous.
The Persistently Dangerous School designation was created by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The local schools that were removed from the list this year are Lincoln High School and Sayre Middle School.
Officials also say the District saw a reduction in the total number of reported violent incidents for the fourth year in a row. The total number of violent incidents across the district dropped 9.9 percent from the previous year. The rate of violent incidents per 100 students nearly stayed the same from 1.84 to 1.83 in comparison to last year. Student enrollment also dropped from 149,535 to 135,149 in the 2013-14 school year.
“Our focus on improving school culture and safety throughout all of our schools resulted in the School District having no schools listed this year,” said Dr. William R. Hite, Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. “More students are making the right choices and our principals, teachers, and school staff members are providing the right support and guidance.”
Philadelphia schools are set to open on Monday.
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