Drug, Alcohol Cases In Red Bank Schools: New Data 2020

RED BANK, NJ – The state has released its annual list of drug and alcohol cases, reflecting the most recent data from the 2018-19 school year.

While the data is compiled from each district’s yearly self-report, a number of New Jersey districts have seen a steep increase in substance abuse cases as drugs and alcohol continue to be a pervasive problem in the state's cities and suburban areas.

A number of Monmouth County municipalities showed sharp increases in reports of drug and alcohol cases, including Red Bank. In fact, the Red Bank Regional School district had among the highest increases in cases between 2017-18 and 2018-19, ranking at number 15 out of 357 schools on the list.

You can view the full list here.

Union County Educational Services Commission and Northern Burlington County Regional School District topped the list for highest increases in substance abuse cases between 2017-18 and 2018-2019, with 32.17 and 19.72 new cases per 1,000 students.

For reported cases during the 2018-19 school year alone, Red Bank Regional School District ranked at number 17 on the list, with 23.75 cases for every 1,000 pupils. Red Bank Borough was listed much lower, with 0.70 cases per 1,000.

Commercial Township School District in Cumberland County took the crown for the highest number of cases last year, with 142.86 reported cases per 1,000 students.

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

Patch did not include school districts that had no reported cases or school districts that had no increase or decrease in cases.

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