One of the core goals of the Youngstown City School District is to ensure that our scholars learn in a safe, respectful, and focused environment. That’s why I’m proud to share some powerful and encouraging news with our school community.
During the 2024–25 school year, reported fight incidents across YCSD dropped by 23.7% compared to the previous year. This means 127 fewer fights, or nearly one fewer disruption per day across our district. The average number of fights per instructional day fell from 2.97 to 2.27—a meaningful shift in our day-to-day school climate.
Let’s put this into perspective:
Roughly 130 fewer conflicts were experienced by scholars and staff this year.
We preserved
over 32 hours of instructional time that would have otherwise been lost to resolving conflict and restoring order.
Based on an enrollment of approximately 4,500 scholars, we saw an improvement of
28 fewer fights per 1,000 scholars
This isn't just a statistic—it's a reflection of the work our educators, support staff, safety team, and, most importantly, our scholars do each day to change the culture in our schools.
This progress mirrors the remarkable shift already underway at East High School, where fights dropped by nearly 59% year over year. Together, these patterns demonstrate that our approach—focusing on positive relationships, proactive behavior support, and intentional supervision—is not just effective in isolated pockets, but across the entire district.
What’s Next?
We’re not done. In fact, we’re doubling down:
Hotspot Analysis: We'll map incidents to understand better high-risk times and locations, such as transitions and dismissals.
Scaling What Works: The strategies proving successful in one building will be shared and adopted across all campuses.
Listening to Scholars: We’re bringing scholar voices into this conversation. Their lived experience is crucial in ensuring that perceived safety aligns with reported data.
Raising the Bar: We’re setting a goal to reduce fight incidents by another 15% next school year—targeting fewer than 350 total incidents across the district.
We’re committed to doing better for our scholars, and this data confirms that we’re moving in the right direction. Let’s continue working together to defend the Y, lift our schools, and build the kind of community our scholars deserve.
With pride and purpose,
Jeremy J. Batchelor
Superintendent, Youngstown City School District