What data does the report collect?
The report gathers information on:
incidents involving drugs or violence on school property and any resulting suspension or expulsion imposed on the student offenders involved
Districts should have data on any drug or violence-related incident that led to a suspension of 10 or more days (see below). It is also likely that districts maintain data on suspensions of fewer than 10 days. It may be the case that districts do not have incident-level data on incidents involving drugs or violence that did not result in a suspension. For these incidents, districts should do their best to complete the incident date and the number of offenders and victims.
suspensions of more than 10 consecutive school days (including expulsion) for activities that are not drug or violence related
The Department has collected these data, at the incident-level, for several years. This is not a new requirement. Therefore, it is expected that districts will be able to report these data accurately.
suspensions of 10 or fewer days of Special Education students for activities that are not drug or violence related
Districts should be maintaining data on students in special education who have been suspended, at the individual student level, because that would have been needed to complete the previously-existing Special Education Discipline form.
The report has two parts: the Violence or Drug-Related Incidents on School Property form, and the Student Discipline Record form.
Why is the Department collecting these data?
The Department is collecting these data in order to meet several different federal and state reporting requirements. Various federal and state statutes require the collection, monitoring, and reporting of data relative to school safety, student behavior and discipline.
- The Federal Gun-Free Schools Act (Section 14601 of the Improving America's Schools Act) requires each state to provide annual reports to the Secretary of Education concerning implementation of the Act's requirements. The report requests the number of incidents involving firearms, the number that resulted in a 12-month expulsion, and details about the expulsions.
- The Federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act requires the Secretary of Education to report to Congress the frequency, seriousness and incidence of violence in schools in the states. Among other things, the report asks for the number of suspensions and expulsions for physical fighting, weapons possession, alcohol-related incidents, and drug-related incidents.
- The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Title IV requires each state to identify persistently dangerous schools in order for local educational agencies to implement the Unsafe School Choice Option. In addition, states must collect and make public the frequency, seriousness, and incidence of violence and drug-related offenses resulting in suspensions and expulsions in elementary schools and secondary schools in the state. States are encouraged to expand data collection efforts to ensure that incidents that may not result in suspension or expulsion are also captured.
- The Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires each state to report annually to the Secretary of Education the number of children with disabilities suspended out of school or expelled for drug, weapon or other offenses, by disability and by race.
- The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 requires every school district to report annually to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on statistics relative to suspensions and expulsions.
In the past, the Department was not always able to complete all questions on the federal reports, due to discrepancies between how the Department collected the data and the requirements for reporting it. The new School Safety and Discipline Report (SSDR) will allow the Department to report more accurate data to the federal government and help to ensure that the department and local school districts remain eligible for the receipt of federal funds in these areas.
Why are the data collected at the incident level?
Under G.L. c. 69, s. 1I, the Department has the authority to determine the manner and form for collecting data from school districts. In the past, the Department conducted the following data collections to satisfy the above reporting requirements:
The Department has determined that in order to gather more accurate and comprehensive information to meet reporting requirements, the data should be collected at the incident level. As a result all incident and discipline data are reported through the SSDR which allows the data to be reported once, and used in multiple ways. If a student on an Individualized Education Plan brought a weapon to school and as a result was excluded for 20 days the incident is reported once, and Department staff can use the data for multiple reports as needed, such as for:
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Report
Special Education Discipline Report
Student Exclusion Report
Year-End School Indicator Report
In addition, the SSDR is connected to the SIMS database at the Department, so that the demographic and program data do not need to be entered in the SSDR. By pulling the information directly from SIMS, we increase the accuracy of the data and simplify the reporting task for local school officials.
Must a school district obtain parental consent to release this information to the Department?
No. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), as well as the Massachusetts Student Records Regulations, authorize local school officials to release student records to the Department for the purpose of auditing, evaluating and enforcing state and federally funded education programs, without parental consent. Since this information is being collected for the purpose of enforcing federal law, school districts do not have to obtain parental consent to release this information to the Department.
Are school districts required to inform parents that they are reporting this information to the Department?
No. School districts are not required to notify parents that this information is being released to the Department.
6. How long will the Department maintain the personally identifiable information it is collecting?
The Department will delete all personally identifiable information from the database one year after it has conducted the aggregation necessary to generate the requisite reports.
Who will have access to the personally identifiable information?
The Department is required by FERPA and the Massachusetts Student Records Regulations to protect the confidentiality of any student record information it collects. Generally, no third party may obtain access to this information without the written consent of the student (if he or she is age 14 or older or has entered the 9th grade) or the student's parent or guardian. In addition, this information is also protected by G.L. c. 66A, the Massachusetts Fair Information Practices Act (FIPA). FIPA prohibits state agencies that possess "personal data" from releasing such data to third parties without the consent of the "data subject" unless there is a federal or state law requiring the release or a court order. Prior to the release of data pursuant to court orders, the Department must give data subjects sufficient notice of such court orders to allow them to seek to overturn such court orders.
Is the collection of personally identifiable information regarding incidents that may constitute a crime consistent with the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA)?
Yes. The SDFSCA requires that each state have a Uniform Management Information and Reporting System (UMIRS) to provide the public with data about youth drug use and school violence at the state and local level. The Draft Nonregulatory Guidance issued by the United States Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in January 2004 provides that the UMIRS database must not identify victims of crimes or persons accused of crimes. The personally identifiable information the Department is collecting will not be entered into the UMIRS database and therefore will not contain the identity of victims of crimes or any persons accused of crimes.
Is it necessary to have the all the detail on the Incident Form?
The specific categories on the Violence or Drug-Related Incidents on School Property form are determined by the various federal reporting requirements. The detail is requested in order to assess the seriousness of the incidents, to better understand the trends over time and monitor progress. It also allows the data to be aggregated in a variety of ways. Department staff are currently working with school district representatives to consolidate reporting categories and condense the report for the 2004-05 school year.
Who needs to report these data?
The data are collected from all public school districts in the Commonwealth, including charter schools.
If districts already maintain these data electronically, do they need to fill out the on-line forms?
No. Districts have the option of sending the information in a data file, if they already track this information in a local database. In this way, districts are not required to track the information in two separate systems. Department staff are making on-site visits to districts, upon the district's request, to provide technical assistance with the data files.
How do district staff access the forms?
The SSDR is accessed through the Department's security portal, similar to many other Department data collections. The collection forms can be made available to anyone in the district. It is a local decision how to manage and distribute access to the forms. Department data collection staff are available to assist anyone having difficulty accessing or completing the report.
How will these data be used to identify Unsafe Schools?
Under the "Massachusetts Standards for Determining Unsafe Schools" the following offenses or incidents committed by students on school grounds and which result in exclusion or expulsion of the students are used in determining if an individual school meets the standard and may be declared "Persistently Dangerous" as required by NCLB.
- Possessing a firearm on school grounds
- Possessing other weapons on school grounds
- Committing physical assaults and/or other violent crime on school grounds
For further guidance and information, please review related federal and state laws and regulations contained within the "Massachusetts Standards for Determining Unsafe Schools" document posted at http://www.doe.mass.edu/cnp/safe/sdus.html.
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