Resident Students Account for Most Infractions at MFHS

A recent fight at Menomonee Falls High School that resulted in the arrest of six individuals has sparked a focused discussion on the prevalence of violence in Falls schools. 

Last week, Menomonee Falls Patch presented a preliminary look at behavior infractions in Falls schools using police call logs and suspension/expulsion data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. On Monday, Patch received additional data from Falls school district internal tracking that sheds a more light on the composition of misbehavior in the district.

When it comes to infractions in the district, one of the most common beliefs from Patch readers was that the majority of violent incidences involved non-resident students or students enrolled through the state’s Chapter 220 program.

According to the Patch Facebook page, readers posited that anywhere from 50 percent to 90 percent of behavior infractions at the school involve students from homes outside of Menomonee Falls. However, internal data from the district shows that resident students account for a clear majority of the suspensions at MFHS.

“Clearly, high school students will use poor judgment,” said Superintendent Patricia Greco in an e-mail to Patch. “Behavior data is typically higher for males than females. Any statements representing discriminatory assumptions would also represent inaccurate information.”

Between 2009 and to date in 2013, 292 students have been suspended due to behavioral incidents at MFHS. Of that total, 68 percent involved resident students, and 14 percent involved students enrolled through the Chapter 220 program.  Students attending the district through the Open Enrollment program accounted for 17 percent of suspensions in that time frame.

Between 2009 and to date in 2013, six students have been expelled from MFHS. Just one student enrolled through the Chapter 220 program was expelled, and the remaining five were resident students.

“Our white male resident population represents the majority of the infractions overall,” Greco said.

Of the 1,510 students enrolled in the current school year at MFHS, there are 90 Chapter 220 students and 89 Open Enrollment students attending MFHS — each representing just under 6 percent of the school population. So while there are far more resident students being suspended, the roughly 12 percent of the student body who are not residents account for about 30 percent of the suspensions.

According to district data, roughly 11 percent of Chapter 220 students were suspended so far this year. In contrast, 1.5 percent of resident students were suspended or expelled.

For the past five years, Falls administrators have opted not to add any additional Chapter 220 seats in the district. 

Is Falls Unique?

Parents also were concerned that Falls schools were somehow more violent in comparison to other districts, and that the prevalence of violence and misbehavior has risen recently. 

“I have a daughter who will be a freshman next year at the high school and I am terrified to send her,” said Falls resident Julie Beck on the Patch Facebook page. “The frequency and level of fights that I have heard about over the past few months seems to be growing with students calling in other people--adults in many cases--to come to the HS to fight.”

Beck wasn’t alone in her concern. However, data compiled in the initial Patch investigation revealed that there isn’t an upward or downward trend when it comes to misbehavior in the district. Each year is unique in terms of the total suspensions or expulsions in Falls and districts in the region. 

“We did complete the data analysis on the suspension and expulsion comparisons.  As I indicated last week, there is no pattern of increase of behavior incidents at the high school level,” Greco said. “Actually the data at the schools indicate the behavior is getting better over the years.”

The 1999-00 school year represented the highest suspension rate in the Falls district, with 7.6 percent of students – or 80 students – receiving suspensions. However, most districts in the area report annual suspension rates between 4-5 percent of the student population – even in northern districts that don’t participate in the Chapter 220 program.

Falls’ suspension rates mimic others in the area, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction. Only in Nicolet and Mukwonago school districts did the suspension rate exceed 10 percent in a particular school year. Furthermore, data didn’t indicate a significant upward or downward trend in suspension data.

Germantown recorded the lowest suspension rate of 18 other area districts compared. Germantown and Kettle Moraine were the only districts to not suspend a single student in given school year, according to the data provided. 

“Our goal remains the same.  We have very good schools with strong teachers and leaders.  We continue to work with each child to improve their individual commitment to their futures,” Greco said.