WEST LONG BRANCH — There is no marked difference in the number of suspensions handed out to students this October compared to a year ago, School Superintendent/Principal Leonard G. Schnappauf reported to the Shore Regional High School Board of Education.

In response to a request from the board at its earlier workshop meeting, Schnappauf produced comparative numbers at the regular board meeting on Nov. 20 showing that 14 students were suspended during the month of October 2003 while 11 were suspended in October 2002.

"There wasn’t much difference," he observed.

Schnappauf did not yet have the figures for the month of November this year, which had not been completed, but said only four students were suspended in November last year.

At the board’s request, Schnappauf agreed to provide such comparisons for every month.

Schnappauf, in a later interview, said he looks at each month’s figure for suspensions and that if it’s an anomaly with more than in the past, he will go further to investigate why.

"Based on those numbers," he said, referring to October, "there was nothing to pursue."

Asked the reasons for the suspensions, Schnappauf said they vary.

"It varies by the number of students. It varies by the gender of the students," he reported.

Schnappauf said with boys there’s more scuffling in the settling of disputes, while the girls tend to be more verbal in the settling of their disputes. There’s only an occasional drug event, he added.

In October, Schnappauf said, there were no injuries in the fights leading to suspension.

He said a suspension lasts from one day to 10 days. The school can’t suspend a student for more than 10 days without giving the student a hearing before the Board of Education, he explained.

Schnappauf declined to give comparative figures on suspensions for five and 10 years ago, saying that would be unfair because the school was so small at that time. Ten years ago it had 550 students while today it has 700, he noted. He pointed out it is projected to grow to 840 students by the 2006-07 school year and said that will mean a greater number of suspensions.

"The larger the school, the more the students, the more opportunity there is to go wrong," he said. But, he added, "Basically, Shore Regional students are well behaved."