Incidents of violence and other serious disciplinary problems go significantly underreported at Bibb County Schools, according to an independent investigation commissioned by administrators themselves.

The document from Macon-based consulting firm Safe Havens International is blunt: “We feel that the accuracy of reported data in the district is not only suspect, it is unreliable,” the authors state.

Safe Havens is run by a former campus police chief for Bibb County schools.

Teachers told the report authors they feel pressure from above to keep quiet about disciplinary problems, so much so they fear for their jobs.

The authors do praise administrators for inviting scrutiny by commissioning the report, but Bibb County school officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The Safe Havens report also calls on administrators to immediately withdraw from an agreement they signed earlier this year, committing to not press charges in certain misdemeanor cases that occur on campus.

“Our experience has been that school districts lacking effective punitive options […] have higher rates of violence," the authors state.

Tags: Bibb County Schools, Adam Ragusea, Safe Havens International, school violence