Where Bernards Twp. Ranks In NJ School Drug, Alcohol Cases

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A number of New Jersey school districts had sizable increases in substance abuse cases this past year as drugs and alcohol continue to be a pervasive problem in the state's cities and suburban areas amid the coronavirus crisis.

New Jersey has released its annual list of substance abuse cases reported by each school district, revealing the most recent data of reported cases. Below are the lists of the school districts with the highest to lowest number of cases in 2019-20. The data was part of release of the 2019-2020 School Performance Reports, which contain a wide variety of information on student demographics.

"We have always stated that the annual School Performance Reports serve as a springboard for discussion," said Angelica Allen-McMillan, acting commissioner of education. "These discussions are more important now than ever before as students, staff, and others in the school community navigate this difficult time."

The list of school districts with the highest to lowest number of cases, per 1,000 students, reported in 2019-20 included the Bernards Township. The district ranked 245th on the list of 322 districts with a 1.44 score. That's a decrease of 0.62 from the prior year.

The data was compiled as Gov. Phil Murphy shut down school buildings because of the coronavirus crisis and many districts continue to teach remotely. It's not known what kind of impact the crisis has had on substance abuse, but many fewer districts (93) showed increases in 2019-20 than they did the previous year (242).

A number of suburban areas, meanwhile, showed increases. The state Department of Education has cautioned that these numbers are reported by each district, so each jurisdiction is responsible for reporting its results fairly and accurately. But they are required by law to report them.

New Jersey school officials also told Patch that teen vaping has helped drive the numbers up over the past three years since many districts now count e-cigarette use as substance abuse.

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