The authors present information that documents the fact that, despite increased media attention and public concern, school violence decreased during the 1990's. Objective school violence surveillance surveys are only one source of information, and they typically are less visible to policymakers and their constituents on a regular basis than are other sources, such as media reports. In addition, the surveys that are currently used to assess progress toward safer schools do not examine the complexity of the school violence problem, as they rely solely on population base-rate estimates and single-item prevalence analyses. This strategy is inadequate because it does not provide the depth of information that is required to assess the targeting of public policy initiatives intended to reduce school violence. This article draws upon information derived from the 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999 Centers for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance surveys and the 1997-98 California Student Survey. Secondary analyses using these surveys are used to illustrate the importance of considering risk and school adjustment patterns when examining school violence trends to formulate public policy agendas. 5 tables, 5 figures, and 42 references