8 kindergartners were arrested last school year, Indiana reported. But it’s not true

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A report from the Indiana Department of Education shows that 18 students were arrested at Maple Elementary in Avon last school year for a range of offenses, including battery, intimidation and disorderly conduct. And an additional 14 students were arrested off school property as a result of referrals from school staff to police.In total, eight kindergarteners, three first graders, one second grader, eight third graders and 12 fourth graders were reported arrested. The details come from the annual “Indiana Schools Bullying, Arrests, and Safety Staffing Report,” which was published in July.The arrests appeared to show a surge in violent behavior by young children and the first time in at least seven years the state reported a student in kindergarten was arrested, according to data obtained from the IDOE.But a WFYI review of the data found these 32 arrests of Maple Elementary School students never happened. Avon school officials say an error by a district employee led to faulty information being included in the state’s report.The errors skew data on racial disparities in school discipline. And a top discipline researcher also said it raises concerns about the validity of other data schools are required to report to the state and make...

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