BURBANK SCHOOLS SEE HIGH BATTERY RATE; OFFICIALS SAY RESULTS EXPLAINED BY TOUGH POLICIES.

Byline: Daily News

The rate of batteries at Burbank schools was significantly higher than the statewide and Los Angeles averages, according to a state report released Wednesday, but school officials said the numbers reflect the district's intolerance for violent or confrontational behavior.

``We report what a lot of districts don't report,'' said Burbank school board member Elena Hubbell. ``We really believe that we need to make it real clear to everyone that we have zero tolerance for violence.''

Batteries occurred at a rate of 12.56 per 1,000 students in Burbank in the 1997-98 school year, compared with an average of three per 1,000 in California, according to the report by the state Department of Education.

In Glendale, the rate of batteries was 0.50 per 1,000 students. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the rate was 1.08 attacks for every 1,000 students.

Hank Jannace, director of pupil services for Burbank, said Burbank had been very careful about the way it reported such crimes as battery, sticking strictly to the state's procedures. If Burbank's numbers were far higher than other districts', perhaps those others were under-reporting their problems, he said.

``I'm looking at L.A. Unified here, and thinking, This is incredible,'' Jannace said. ``We may be doing the right thing with the way it's reported and sticking out like a sore thumb.''

Jean Scott, a state education department consultant who worked on the report, said that there was no way to determine a margin of error for the entire report. The state had, however, been able to verify some of the statistics included - in specific, the data on drug and alcohol offenses - and found that about 32 percent of districts had under-reported.

``It's a problem with any self-reporting test,'' she said.

Hubbell said Burbank has a strict policy of suspending students for any kind of violent or confrontational behavior and a strong expulsion policy as well.

Two years ago 78 students were expelled, she said. The district chose this year to turn over such cases to an administrative panel, in part because of the numbers involved.

Hubbell said she agrees with Jannace that it might be better to aggressively report and deal with such problems as batteries, rather than worry about the district's image.

``We're dealing with it. We're not sweeping it under the rug.''

LAUSD officials said crowded schools are in part to blame for the incidence of violence in their district. Hubbell said violence in society is reflected in schools.

The district, she said, has a Safe Schools program to prevent violence on campuses, as well as a number of programs to teach students alternatives to violence. The district, for example, has guidance counselors at all elementary schools.

At the high school level, at beginning of the school year, every parent and student must sign a contract saying that they know exactly what behavior leads to suspension or expulsion.

``Every single child knows the rules,'' Hubbell said.