If your child attends a school in the Atlanta Public Schools District, and you wonder if incidents of violence are increasing there, here’s where you can find out.

Atlanta’s school district reported 2,724 fights in the 2015-16 school year. That put it right in the middle among the  Fulton, Atlanta, Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb districts. DeKalb had the highest number, 4,913, and Cobb had the lowest, 1,466.

Our database shows the numbers for schools across Georgia.

The number of fights reported by schools statewide went from 46,399 during the 2011-12 school year to 53,462 during the 2015-16 school year, a 15 percent increase, according to state data. Reports of batteries have increased about fivefold during the same time span, the data show.

For a more detailed examination of this trend, check our premium coverage on myajc.com

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Uta Thomas picks up her son, Jax, during a public hearing in Atlanta on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. She implored the school board not to close Dunbar Elementary. 
"You would centralize education to decentralized families," she said. "You would break apart a community hub." (Abbey Cutrer / AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com

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Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat gives a tour of Fulton County Jail in  2023. (Natrice Miller/AJC 2023)

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC