A probe into student criminal records in the Madison Public School System found one out of every 100 students attending Madison public schools has been convicted of a crime, district officials said in a Friday article from the Wisconsin State Journal.
District officials did not specify the degree of severity of the convictions, which range from shoplifting and fighting to felonies.
East High School has the highest number of convicted students with 88.
Schools whose students were figured into the findings include La Follette (45), Memorial (34), West (31), and Shabazz (5) High schools, a number of middle schools, and Sandburg elementary school (1).
State law requires districts to educate children with criminal records unless the students have been expelled for an incident taking place on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
School officials announced two weeks ago they would review the records of students attending Madison Public schools, to make sure they do not pose a threat to other students, in the wake of the rape of a female Madison West high-school student in a stairwell at the school Sept. 16.
A 16 year-old student was arrested later that day and charged with second-degree sexual assault. The suspect had previously served time in a juvenile facility after being convicted of stealing a car and damaging property.
He has since publicly denied his guilt and even called for the Madison police to administer him a DNA test to clear his name.
Meanwhile, he is still incarcerated at Ethan Allen, a state corrections school in Wales, WI. Upon returning to school Wednesday, Sept. 18, the victim, also 16 years old, was beaten in a hallway of the high school. The suspect’s sister, also a student at West, was arrested in connection with the victim’s beating and later released on bail.