Black Horse Pike Schools In Top 10 For Substance Abuse, Data Says

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — The Black Horse Pike Regional School District was among the top 10 districts in the state when it comes to substance abuse cases for the 2019-20 school year, according to a list recently released by the state.

The district that includes Highland, Timber Creek and Triton regional high schools had an average of 18.69 cases per 1,000 students in terms of drug and alcohol cases last year, according to the list.

The Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission School District in Monmouth County was No. 1 on the list, with 285.71 cases per 1,000 students. Read more here: NJ School Districts With Most Drug, Alcohol Cases: New Data 2021

Despite the high ranking, the district actually saw a decrease of 2.01 cases per 1,000 students, according to the list. The decrease reflects the drop from the 2018-19 to 2019-20 school years, which were the most recent years available.

The Gloucester Township K-8 Public School District ranked 278th in the state, with 0.94 cases per 1,000 students. That was an increase of 0.79. The Black Horse Pike Regional School District serves students from Gloucester Township, Bellmawr and Runnemede.

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.

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).

The data was part of the Wednesday 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."

With reporting by Tom Davis, Patch Staff