From The Denver Post:  Parents have a right to know how safe their kids’ schools are, and the state has an obligation as well as a statutory responsibility to present that information.

Sadly, Colorado’s school districts have failed to adequately provide this data in any useful way, according to an investigation last year by The Denver Post and KMGH-Channel 7.

The probe found school safety information lacks state oversight and varies widely from one district to the next. Thankfully, lawmakers are drafting legislation to fix the flawed system, reports The Post’s Zahira Torres.

One potential bill would force districts to begin to report sexual assaults and marijuana use in separate categories rather than be lumped in with other offenses.

Now, reports of sexual assaults and bullying are among the 87 percent of incidents reported to the state under such broad categories as “defiant, disobedient or repeated interference.”

This lack of clarity is a disservice to parents who should be able to monitor the prevalence of sexual assaults and bullying in schools. The Colorado Department of Education also should want that information to determine whether intervention is necessary.

Regrettably, marijuana use reporting gets thrown together with other drug violations. Yet here, too, a separate reporting category has become important in the wake of the legalization of pot.

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