An increase in reporting is likely behind the spike in weapon-related suspensions and expulsions in city schools, according to the Toronto District School Board.

Records from the school board show the number of students disciplined for carrying a weapon on school grounds nearly doubled in the past year, up to 73 from 42 in 2012-2013. The total number of weapon-related incidents for 2013-2014 was 337, the highest it has been in six years.

TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird said the increase may be a result of more students coming forward to discuss weapon concerns. He also pointed to Bill 157, the Keeping our Kids Safe at School Act, which passed in 2010 requiring school faculty to report all serious incidents to the principal.

“The thing to note about the data is it doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in the number of incidents,” said Bird. “It means there is an increase in the number of suspensions and reporting.”

The records track everything from possession to trafficking in weapons or illegal drugs, using a weapon to cause or threaten bodily harm, and weapon-related acts considered to be a breach of a school’s code of conduct.

A weapon, as defined by the school board, is “any article designed as a weapon or used or intended to be used for the purpose of threatening, intimidating or injuring a person.”

Bird said that could mean anything from a pen to a gun.

The highest number of incidents each school year fell into the breach of a school’s code of conduct category. There were 192 breaches in 2013-2014. There is also a separate category for a “serious breach,” which Bird said often means possession of a weapon. There were 15 serious breaches in the last school year.

No offences constitute an automatic expulsion, Bird said, but some, including possession of a firearm warrant an automatic suspension and investigation.

Central Technical School reported the most incidents, 51, from 2008-2014, but Bird said the school is safe, and that the numbers are indicative of staff and students taking incidents seriously. Other schools with high incidence rates over that period included Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute, 37; Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute, 36; Downsview Secondary, 35; and Western Technical-Commercial School, 35.

Chris Tonks, school board trustee for Ward 6, said the board needs to find out if the report’s numbers are part of a broader trend; if they are, “we need to take action.”

Chris Penrose, executive director of Success Beyond Limits, a youth outreach program in the Jane St. and Finch Ave. area, said it’s important to look at larger community issues, including poverty, education gaps and youth unemployment. “You stop violence by addressing the conditions where violence is more prevalent,” he said.

Number of weapon-related suspensions and expulsions:

2008-2009: 454

2009-2010: 319

2010-2011: 262

2011-2012: 251

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2012-2013: 263

2013-2014: 337