58 Bullying Cases Confirmed As Sa yreville Schools Review Safety Data For 2025-2026 School Year

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SAYREVILLE, NJ — Sayreville school officials reviewed the district’s latest safety data during the July 21 Board of Education meeting, including 58 confirmed cases of harassment, intimidation and bullying during the 2025-2026 school year.

The annual School Safety Data System report also examined incidents involving violence, vandalism, weapons and substance abuse throughout the district.

Assistant Superintendent Eric Glock-Molloy presented the results and answered questions about what the numbers show—and why some disciplinary incidents increased during the second half of the school year.

Did Marijuana Legalization Affect Substance-Abuse Cases?

Board member Eileen Hernandez asked whether substance-abuse incidents had become more common since marijuana was legalized.

“Before we legalized marijuana, did we have as many substance-abuse issues?” Hernandez asked.

“The number has definitely gone up, but we’ve had substance-abuse issues, particularly at the high school level, for years, even before marijuana was legalized,” Glock-Molloy responded.

He also pointed to an increase in the number of people required to undergo testing.

While the longer-term discussion indicated that substance-abuse issues have increased since legalization, Glock-Molloy said the district recorded fewer substance-abuse incidents during the 2025-2026 school year than it did the previous year.

Most Violent Incidents Involved Assaults Or Fights

The majority of incidents classified as violence involved assaults or fights, according to the presentation.

Threats also represented a notable portion of the district’s safety data. Glock-Molloy said those cases can reflect school employees stepping in before a situation becomes physical.

He credited district staff, administrators and teachers with “intervening before we get to an assault, a fight or something else.”

“The threats have come, have been stopped, and there are still consequences,” Glock-Molloy said. “But they come before we get to that level of physical violence.”

Weapons-related incidents increased slightly between reporting periods, while several other categories improved compared with the previous school year.

Vandalism Remained Relatively Limited

Vandalism incidents remained comparatively limited across the district.

The incidents that were recorded generally involved minor property damage, theft or false public alarms at the high school.

Glock-Molloy said the false alarms involved “internet-based communication,” but additional details were not provided during the presentation.

Why Did Some Incidents Increase Later In The Year?

Board President Eloy Fernandez questioned why certain incident totals appeared to rise during the second half of the school year, particularly at the middle and high schools.

Glock-Molloy said the increase can be connected to the “progression of the code of conduct.”

“What you often see at that point is students have, for lower-level offenses, made their way through the code of conduct where they’re getting suspended as opposed to a detention or a Saturday,” he said.

That means students who repeatedly commit lower-level offenses may eventually reach the point at which the district’s disciplinary code calls for a suspension.

District Recorded 144 Bullying Reports

The district also finalized its year-end harassment, intimidation and bullying data during the meeting.

The totals included:

• 144 incidents reported
• 125 incidents investigated
• 58 confirmed cases
• 67 unconfirmed cases

Sayreville War Memorial High School recorded 41 reports, while Sayreville Middle School recorded 40—the highest totals among the district’s schools.

District Seeks Up To $500,000 For Violence Prevention

During the same meeting, the board approved submitting an application for the 2026 COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program Grant.

The program provides a maximum federal share of $500,000 per award over three years.

Board member Bloom pointed to several ways the district is using available resources, including “funds for training and salaries, tutorials, multilingual [programming and] the School Violence Prevention Program grant.”

The School Safety Data System review is an annual state requirement intended to provide information about student conduct and safety incidents in New Jersey schools.

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