Here's how many students have been arrested at Evansville schools in recent years
EVANSVILLE – There were more than 60 arrests of Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. students over the previous two years, figures obtained by the Courier & Press show.
The Courier & Press received the numbers not from the EVSC, which has fought the release of arrest information for months, but through a records request to the Indiana Department of Education. The data – which also include stats for every public school in the state – break down arrests by school for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 instructional years. The figures even divulge what alleged offenses students were arrested for.
Ages are also included. Some students were as young as seventh grade.
The reports don't, however, provide names, dates or narratives for each offense. Nor do they say if the students arrested were ultimately prosecuted.
According to Billy Ottensmeyer, staff attorney for the IDOE’s Office of Legal Affairs, the numbers originate from the state’s Discipline Arrest Report. Under Indiana law, it must contain “the number of arrests of students on school corporation property,” he said.
Within the EVSC, student arrests took a major leap between ’21-22 and ’22-23. In the former, the corporation tallied 16 arrests on school property. Five more happened off-site after a “referral” for arrest.
By the next year, however, that figure ballooned to 44 on site and three through referrals.
The majority came from the Academy for Innovative Studies – a nontraditional high school for students who have had issues in their other schools. It accounted for 29 on-site arrests in ’22-23. The year before, it had nine.
The only other school to reach double-digit arrests either year was Harrison, which had 10 on-site arrests in ’22-23.
None of EVSC’s kindergarten-through-fifth-grade elementary schools saw an arrest, but a K-8 institution – Lodge – and a middle school – Plaza Park – did. The state lists them at one on-site arrest each in ’22-23.
North Junior High School tallied one referral for an off-site arrest in ’21-22.
The EVSC has repeatedly declined to release information on arrests themselves, even though Luke Britt, Indiana’s public access counselor, has argued that much of it is public record.
The Courier & Press sent EVSC spokesman Jason Woebkenberg multiple questions about the state data, including if the EVSC has a set policy of when to call the police when an incident arises. A reporter also asked if the EVSC is concerned about the number of arrests – and their sharp increase – over the last two years, and if they have a plan to reduce that number as time goes on.
Woebkenberg sent a statement in response.
“We are committed to maintaining safe learning environments in all EVSC schools. Building administrators, teachers and support staff work in conjunction to make this possible,” it read. “When necessary, we rely on the support of the EVSC Police Department, Evansville Police Department and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff Office. Students understand that certain behaviors will not be tolerated in any school without repercussions, such as fighting that involves two individuals and potentially leads to two arrests.
“This expectation of appropriate behavior includes our alternative education program for students with disciplinary issues at the Academy of Innovative Studies (sic).”
Arrests in EVSC schools
2021-22 (on-site)
Academy for Innovative Studies: 9
Harrison High School: 3
North High School: 2
Central High School: 1
Reitz High School: 1
2022-23 (onsite)
AIS: 29
Harrison: 10
Reitz: 2
Bosse High School: 1
Lodge Community School: 1
Plaza Park International Prep Academy: 1
2021-22 (referrals for arrest)
Harrison: 2
AIS: 1
Bosse: 1
North Junior High School: 1
2022-23 (referrals for arrest)
AIS: 2
Harrison: 1
In the ’22-23 school year, AIS had the seventh-most arrests in the state, according to the data. Jeffersonville High School was first, with 54 on-site arrests and 19 referrals. It was followed by Hobart High School (48), Center Grove High School (45), Elkhart High School (41), Hazelwood Middle School (36) and Jefferson High School in Lafayette (32 plus two referrals).
As for other area schools corporations, no institution inside the Warrick County School Corp. saw an arrest either year. In Gibson County, Wood Memorial recorded one arrest while Princeton High School had four, plus one referral in '22-23. North Posey High School had a single arrest that year as well, but the data didn't list any arrests for them in '21-22.
What students were arrested for
The IDOE also breaks down each arrest by offense. The vast majority stemmed from some form of battery, but there were also multiple instances of firearms being found at school. Disorderly conduct pops up multiple times as well.
2021-22 (onsite)
AIS: Battery (5); disorderly conduct (2); aggravated battery (1); possession of marijuana (1)
Harrison: Criminal gang activity (1); trespassing (1); possession of marijuana (1)
North High School: Strangulation (1); disorderly conduct (1)
Central: Battery resulting in bodily injury (1)
Reitz: Battery by means of a deadly weapon (1)
2022-23 (onsite)
AIS: Battery (12); disorderly conduct (7); possession of marijuana (2); battery resulting in bodily injury (1); battery resulting in serious bodily injury (1); marijuana dealing (1); possession of a controlled substance (1); intimidation (1); possession of a firearm on school property (1); trespassing (1); attempted battery on law enforcement (1)
Harrison: Battery resulting in bodily injury (3); disorderly conduct (2); possession of a knife on a school bus (2); battery resulting in serious bodily injury (1); possession of marijuana (1); escape (1)
Reitz: Disorderly conduct (1); possession of a firearm on school property (1)
Bosse: Aggravated battery (1)
Lodge: Battery (1)
Plaza Park: Battery (1)
2021-22 (referrals)
Harrison: Carrying a handgun without a license (1); intimidation (1)
AIS: Sexual battery (1)
Bosse: Possession of a firearm on school property (1)
North Junior High School: Intimidation (1)
2022-23 (referrals)
AIS: Criminal recklessness resulting in serious bodily injury (1); possession of a handgun without a permit (1)
Harrison: Disorderly conduct (1)
EVSC has resisted the release of arrest info
The numbers provide at least partial answers to questions the Courier & Press has been asking the EVSC since the spring.
IDOE sent the figures on Dec. 7, a little more than a month after a reporter requested them. That's a much swifter response than the EVSC.
It started in April, when a reporter filed a records request seeking all arrests logged by the corporation’s in-house police force, the EVSC Police Department, over the last two years.
The EVSC responded that it received the request within 24 hours – as it’s required to do by state law – but didn’t hand over any documents until six months later. When it did, the file contained only four arrests. None of them involved students.
The corporation denied any other records due to privacy concerns, claiming they were confidential under state law – something Britt has long disputed, with state statute to back him up. The EVSC's attorney, Pat Shoulders, said he and Britt "have different opinions on the laws applicable."
The Courier & Press responded in November by only asking for the number of arrests over the last two years – and not the reports connected to them. Shoulders blocked that release as well.
Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act “does not require public entities to answer questions,” he wrote on Nov. 8. “It requires such bodies to produce existing non-protected records which are responsive to the request.
“Please be advised that the EVSC has NO records / documents which record the ‘number of arrests of students logged by the EVSC Police Department for the last two years,’” he said. “Thank you for your interest in the EVSC.”
That’s despite the fact EVSC is required to report arrests to the state – and that the state compiled a report titled “Indiana Schools Bullying, Safety Staffing and Arrests Report 2022” that detailed an array of school safety issues, including the number of arrests in the 2021-22 school year statewide: 1,291.
Shoulders said EVSC complied with IDOE’s requirements. It just doesn’t “maintain a serial log.”
A day later, the Courier & Press filed a request for all data the EVSC submitted for that report. Christina Greathouse, assistant to the EVSC’s chief of staff, responded in an email on Nov. 15. The data she provided, though, ranged from vague to indecipherable.
She sent three answers to yes-or-no questions without the questions attached – 1. Yes; 2. No; 3. Yes. Those were the EVSC’s replies to the IDOE report’s “Safety Staffing Section,” she said.
The report lists those questions as:
Has the school corporation established a school corporation police department?
Does the school corporation employ private security guards?
Does the school corporation have an agreement with a local law enforcement agency regarding procedures to arrest students on school property?
Greathouse also attached PDFs titled “22-23 Bullying” and “22-23 Arrests.” Neither document contained any names of schools and instead appeared to be written in internal code. Schools were listed as “E04,” “E06,” “E08,” “E33,” “E37,” or “E78,” and every arrest location was marked “1.”
Reasons for secrecy disputed by state, federal officials
According to Britt – and the U.S. Department of Education – the EVSC could disclose much more than that.
Both Shoulders and Superintendent David Smith have cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, as a reason to keep arrest documents confidential. But the U.S. DOE says FERPA doesn't apply to law enforcement records.
Britt has repeatedly said any report for a crime that would also be illegal if an adult committed it must be tallied and disclosed under Indiana law. That applies to more serious crimes such as battery or drug possession – not strictly juvenile issues such as cigarette possession or alcohol consumption.
Smith also mentioned “confidentiality laws” as a reason to keep arrest reports – which go beyond mere numbers – under wraps. However, arrest affidavits and incident reports are public record in Indiana in the vast majority of circumstances.
Britt said that even extends to juveniles in non-delinquency cases. According to Indiana code 31-39-3-2, several aspects of such arrests are public, including the nature and location of the offense and the age and gender of the person who allegedly committed it.
Even the name of the juvenile would be disclosable in certain circumstances, Britt has said, but the Courier & Press isn’t seeking to publish juveniles’ identities.
Two arrests for 2023-24
It’s unclear how many student arrests will appear in next year’s state figures. But after an incident Monday at Harrison, there will at least be two.
According to an incident report EPD provided to the Courier & Press, two students were apprehended after a fight broke out in the cafeteria.
A pair of teachers and an EPD school resource officer apparently were hit when they attempted to break it up, leaving the students with preliminary charges of battery, battery against a public safety official and disorderly conduct.
The students were transported to the Rescue Mission’s Youth Care Center.
Contact Jon Webb at jon.webb@courierpress.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Here's how many students have been arrested at Evansville schools
