September 9, 2016
TO: Division Superintendents
FROM: Steven R. Staples, Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT: Discipline, Crime, and Violence Reporting
The purpose of this memo is to provide information on the final submission of collected data on discipline, crime, and violence in public school divisions and regional centers/programs for the 2016-2017 school year. Data submitted must meet the following reporting requirements:
- Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA)
- Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia safety indicator for the School Report Card under 8 VAC 20-131
- Annual Report on Discipline, Crime and Violence in Section 22.1-279.3:1 of the Code of Virginia
- The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) report on suspensions and expulsions of students with disabilities
- Federal Gun-Free Schools Act
- Federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
Application and Data Submission:
The closing date for submission for the regional centers/programs data is July 14, 2017. The school divisions cannot finalize their discipline, crime, and violence (DCV) data until regional centers/programs have submitted their data to the divisions.
The closing date for submission for the school divisions is July 28, 2017, with the signed verification report due to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) by August 4, 2017.
The submission window for the 2016-2017 DCV report will be opened on September 15, 2017.
The following new data elements will be collected for 2016-2017:
- All assignments to In-School Suspensions (ISS) will be coded with 01, including general education students who are assigned to ISS.
- The law enforcement notification flag remains the same; however, it will be followed by a new law enforcement "charges filed" flag which requires a "yes or "no" response based on feedback from law enforcement regarding the reported incident.
- A new flag indicating that the school division is providing educational services during a suspension or expulsion is required.
- A model School/Law Enforcement Incident Report form was developed with the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to satisfy the requirement of the Code of Virginia § 22.1-279.3:1. Schools may use this form to document whether charges were filed when law enforcement was notified or involved in a school related incident. However, school divisions may devise their own reporting process in collaboration with local law enforcement.
- A revised User Guide will reflect changes and be published on the Web site.
Additional information documents and detailed instructions related to the data collection process and the Annual Report for Discipline, Crime and Violence can be downloaded from the Virginia Department of Education's Web site at: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/info_management/data_collection/support/school_safety/index.shtml.
For questions regarding training needs, please contact the School Safety Discipline Specialists in the Office of Student Services, Bobby Kipper at Bobby.Kipper@doe.virginia.gov; telephone (804) 225-4653 or Rebecca Kahila at Rebecca.Kahila@doe.virginia.gov; telephone (804) 225-4654. Questions regarding data submission should be directed to Karen Puckett, special education data assistant, in the Office of Special Education and Program Improvement, by e-mail at Karen.Puckett@doe.virginia.gov; telephone (804) 786-6765.
SRS/kp