Five affluent suburban high schools; three school years; 266 crimes reported and worked by local law enforcement officers.
That’s the summary of an examination by The Citizen of felonies and misdemeanors reported on the campuses of Fayette County’s five high schools since August 2007.
Ranking the schools by numbers of crimes committed over three years gives this breakdown:
Fayette County High School in Fayetteville: 79 crimes. Current enrollment: 1,420 students.
McIntosh High School in Peachtree City: 67 crimes. Current enrollment: 1,689 students.
Whitewater High School south of Fayetteville: 54 crimes. Current enrollment: 1,562 students.
Sandy Creek High School just outside Tyrone: 38 crimes. Current enrollment: 1,246 students.
Starr’s Mill High School just south of Peachtree City: 28 crimes. Current enrollment: 1,570 students.
Records indicating the occurrence of documented criminal activity was requested from the various law enforcement agencies for the past three school years, beginning in August 2007 for the 2007-2008 school year and continuing through the 2009-2010 school year that ended in May.
Most of the cases included charges being brought against one or more students. Charges may not have been preferred in some cases such as theft, where the offense occurred but the guilty party was not determined.
It should be emphasized that what follows is not all inclusive since a given case number issued by law enforcement is listed on the report with a single offense that is assigned to that case.
And though often indicative of only one offense committed by one student, there are occasions where more than one offense and more than one individual is cited within the “type” of case listed on the report.
An example of this was a case at McIntosh High where a charge of simple battery by one student on a report from 2008 also cited two felony weapons violations by another student.
A sampling of the types of crimes committed by Fayette’s high school students included violations such as theft, fighting, felony weapons offenses, simple or aggravated assault, child molestation, drug offenses, disorderly conduct and making terroristic threats. Charges brought against students are generally referred to school tribunals and/or the juvenile justice system.
McIntosh High School
Viewed over the past three school years, McIntosh High School had a total of 67 crimes on campus. During that period significantly more crimes occurred during the 2007-2008 school year than in the two succeeding school years. Peachtree City police recorded 41 crimes during the 2007-2008 school year, 12 crimes during the 2008-2009 school year and 14 crimes during 2009-2010.
Records obtained by the Peachtree City Police for the 2007-2008 school year at McIntosh showed 11 cases of theft, five cases of disorderly conduct, four fights, seven charges of disorderly juvenile, two weapons violations, one simple assault, five drug offenses, one gang activity charge, one hit and run, one affray, two harassing communications and one charge of disrupting the public.
Police records for McIntosh for the 2008-2009 school year showed markedly fewer criminal violations. Those included one reckless conduct, one marijuana possession, three thefts, one simple battery, two weapons offenses, one hit and run, one theft from auto, one criminal damage and one disorderly conduct.
And for the 2009-2010 school year at McIntosh, police reported two cases of affray, four thefts, one criminal damage, one harassing communication, one drug possession, two terroristic threats, one affray, one disorderly juvenile and one weapons offense.
Also noted in police records, though not counted as student crimes in this report, were nine incidents of theft of motorized vehicles during the three-year period.
Fayette County High School
Criminal activity at Fayette County High School as reported by the Fayetteville Police Department showed 79 crimes during the three-year period. A similar number of crimes were documented during the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 schools year and a larger number during the 2008-2009 school year. Police recorded 21 crimes in 2007-2008, 38 crimes during 2008-2009 and 20 crimes during the 2009-2010 school year.
Fayetteville Police records during the 2007-2008 school year showed two weapons violations, two drug violations, 10 cases of disorderly conduct, two charges of simple battery, three thefts, one alcohol offense and one threat.
Police records for the 2008-2009 school year at FCHS showed five cases of simple battery, one weapons violation, 16 cases of disorderly conduct, 11 cases of theft, one statutory rape, two drug violations, one alcohol offense and one damage to vehicle.
And for the 2009-2010 school year at FCHS, police reported five cases of simple battery, five cases of disorderly conduct, four thefts, two drug violations, one weapons violation, one robbery, one case of sexual battery and one alcohol offense.
Sandy Creek High School
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office documented a total of 38 crimes committed at Sandy Creek High School over the past three school years. The incidence of those crimes was somewhat evenly distributed during the period, with 13 occurring during the 2007-2008 school year, eight during the 2008-2009 year and 16 occurring during the 2009-2010 school year.
The record for the 2007-2008 school year included four simple assaults, one aggravated assault, two cases of child molestation, three drug possessions, one theft, one obstruction and one case of making terroristic threats.
Sheriff’s records during the 2008-2009 school year showed four thefts, one obscenity offense, two weapons offenses and one drug offense.
And during the 2009-2010 school year at Sandy Creek, records showed two drug offenses, three simple assaults, one statutory rape, seven thefts, one charge of obstruction, one disorderly conduct and two weapons charges.
Starr’s Mill High School
Fayette Sheriff’s records for Starr’s Mill High School documented 28 crimes during the past three school years. Of those, 11 occurred during the 2007-2008 school year, nine during the 2008-2009 school year and eight during the 2009-2010 school year.
At Starr’s Mill High during the 2007-2008 school year there were six thefts, one weapons offense, one drug offense, two simple assaults and one case of making terroristic threats.
Records for the 2008-2009 school year showed one drug offense, two assaults, five thefts and one charge of making terroristic threats.
Sheriff’s records for the 2009-2010 school year at Starr’s Mill noted one obscenity offense, one simple assault, one drug offense, three thefts and two alcohol violations.
Whitewater High School
Sheriff’s records for Whitewater High School showed 54 crimes over the three-year period. The number of crimes diminished somewhat over the period, with 23 recorded during the 2007-2008 school year, 17 during the 2008-2009 school year and 14 during the 2009-2010 school year.
The 2007-2008 school year at Whitewater included five drug offenses, two weapons offenses, one morals/decency offense, seven simple assaults, four alcohol violations, three thefts and one charge of obstruction.
Whitewater during the 2008-2009 school year had one case of aggravated assault, three drug violations, two alcohol violations, two weapons offenses, one obstruction charge, four simple assaults, two charges of making terroristic threats and two thefts.
And for the 2009-2010 school year, Whitewater students were involved in one weapons offense, three thefts, four simple assaults, five drug charges and one alcohol offense.
Given the documentation cited above, it should also be noted that while the number and severity of crimes cited might seem excessive, Fayette County does not experience the volume or severity of crimes that occur in a number of other school systems across Georgia.
