At nearly four of 10 Atlanta schools, safety and security are at unsatisfactory levels, according to state data released today.
The data is part of Georgia's school "climate" ratings. The ratings are based on student, teacher, and parent perceptions of a school's climate; discipline rates; student survey responses on drug use and the prevalence of violence, bullying, and other acts; and student and staff attendance rates.
The Atlanta school district will spend millions in the coming year to help students feel safer and more welcomed at school, investing in training in "social-emotional learning" and replacing the city police officers who previously provided school security with a district-managed security force.
The climate inside 20 Atlanta Public Schools buildings is above average, according to the state.
One Atlanta school — Carver Early College High School — received the state’s top school climate rating of “excellent.” Nineteen other schools received the state’s second highest climate rating of “above average.”
In Atlanta and statewide, safer schools with happier staff, students and parents tended to do better academically. As a group, the Atlanta schools with above-average climate ratings received an average state academic rating of B. The schools with unsatisfactory climate ratings received an average state academic rating of F.
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