Colorado schools have reported a 45 percent spike in drug violations in the past four years, even as the total number of other violations reported to state officials has declined.
Interviews with school officials, health care workers and students across the state depict marijuana as the key factor behind the increase.
What’s happening at your school? Search below to see a four-year history of drug offenses and their disposition, such as expulsion.
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Search tips and data notes
- To compare schools or districts, hit “Ctrl” or “command” and click on as many names as you’d like to see.
- Clicking the “Details” button brings up detailed information about the penalties, such as expulsion, that resulted from the drug violations. The most serious penalties, including out-of-school suspension, expulsion and referral to law enforcement, are listed.
- Schools may impose more than one penalty for drug possession or sale, such as an expulsion and a referral to law enforcement. The number of incidents does not always equal the number of sanctions.
- Schools are required to report drug and other incidents annually to state officials and must follow strict reporting criteria. For example, they are asked to report only those incidents leading to suspension, expulsion, referral to law enforcement or “other” serious action. They are specifically asked not to report incidents leading to lesser punishment such as detention.
**Data source: Colorado Department of Education
