School crime rates decrease MIDDLETOWN - Assistant Superintendent John Russo presented the district's yearly violence and vandalism report at the Board of Education meeting on Oct. 22. The report compared the data from the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years. The numbers for the most part were down, a positive step from last year's report, which saw incidents rise from the previous one. Russo attributed the decrease to the recent additions of cameras in each high school and the middle schools. There were 11 fewer fights but there were eight more simple assaults. The number of drug-related incidents was down from 85 in 2005-06 to 57 the next school year. Russo was glad to see the numbers down in out-of-school suspensions, possession of weapons and police incidents from the year before. "Everyone followed up on our goal to decrease the numbers from last year," Russo said. "In the central office we added a superintendent who looked after this, plus the additional cameras and even the random drug and alcohol testing really helped our cause." He also credited peer mediation in the schools and the high school transition project, done to ensure that middle school students are more comfortable in high school as ways that made the school safer.