INSIDE
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Students on the move
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Summer heat also hits pets
75¢
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Road trip pays off for Keller
VOL. 28 | NUM. 14
WWW.INSIDENOVA.COM
JUNE 17, 2016 | NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES
Stafford top in school suspensions TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
tafford County Public Schools has suspended more students than other schools in the region, according to a report from a Legal Aid Justice Center program. The JustChildren Program’s report reviewed disciplinary-outcome data from school divisions sent to the Virginia Department of Education for the 2014-15 school year. With a population of 27,573 students that school year, Stafford had 5.65 percent of its students suspended from school at least once, the highest percentage in the Northern Virginia area. To compare, Loudoun County had the lowest number of suspensions in the region, with 0.87 percent. Fredericksburg’s students came away with 5.11 percent of its students being suspended, and Prince William County distributed suspensions to 3.7 percent of its students. Fairfax County, which is Virginia’s biggest schools system, doled out suspensions to 1.43 percent of its students. School systems in Northern Virginia have, in general, given out fewer suspensions and expulsions to its students compared to the rest of Virginia, the report said. Virginia public schools issued more than 126,000 out-ofSCHOOL school suspensions to PAGE 13 approximately 70,000
The moment of turning the tassel is recorded as a selfie at Brooke Point High School during graduation ceremonies June 11. FOR MORE IMAGES, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8. ALEKS DOLZENKO | INSIDENOVA
Crime in the county follows state trend TRACY BELL
S
tbell@insidenova.com
ince 2009, total crimes have decreased each year in Virginia, but Stafford saw an increase in homicides in the past year, as did the state. In Stafford, 5,814 reported crimes in 2015 included five murders, 22 kidnappings, 150 sex offenses, more than 1,700 assaults, just over 1,600 larcenies and 985 drug offenses. In 2014 there was one murder or non-negligent homicide in Stafford
County, along with 24 kidnappings and 121 sex offenses. In Virginia in 2015, with an estimated population of 8,382,993, there were 441,355 total criminal offenses. Crime in Virginia 2015, the annual report detailing crime in the state, helps criminal justice agencies decide how to use their resources to reduce crime in the commonwealth’s communities. It was released recently through the Virginia Uniform Crime
Reporting Program, which collects and analyzes crime statistics using incident-based reporting for the Virginia State Police. According to the report, there were 382 homicides in the state in 2015, compared with 337 the year prior. In Fauquier and Spotsylvania counties, there were two homicides each in 2015, compared to Stafford’s five homicides. Prince William county TREND murders increased from PAGE 13 7 in 2014 to 10 in 2015.
STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
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