MEMORANDUM

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
BETTY COXE
CHARLIE CRISTDEPUTY COMMISSIONER
CommissionerEDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
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  1. M E M O R A N D U M
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PLAZA LEVEL – 08, THE CAPITOL – TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-0400 – (850) 413-0555 – FAX (850) 488-2869

http:/www.firn.edu/doe

An affirmative action/equal opportunity employer

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

CHARLIE CRIST

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

Commissioner EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

CONTACT PERSON

louise.rill@fldoe.org

DPS: 03-003

M E M O R A N D U M

TO:

District School Superintendents

SUBJECT: Federal Data Collection Requirements Regarding School

Environmental Safety Incident Report (SESIR) and Student

Discipline/Referral Actions

Federal requirements of the “No Child Left Behind” law require that each state will report

“Frequency, seriousness and incidence of violence and drug-related offenses resulting

in suspensions and expulsions in elementary and secondary schools.” To report this

information accurately using our current system of data collection, it is essential to link

the School Environmental Safety Incident Report (SESIR) data with the Student

Discipline/Referral Action data format.

To accomplish this task, schools must ensure that the SESIR “Incident Identifier

Number” and “Incident Identifier Date” entered at the school level is identical to the

“Incident Identifier Number” and “Incident Identifier Date” entered for the disciplinary

actions that result from these SESIR incidents. Some districts are using data collection

systems that are designed to automatically generate the same SESIR incident identifier

number in both places. Other systems may not ensure the match of the numbers for

SESIR incidents. Attached is a list of counties and university lab schools and the

number of SESIR incidents that matched the corresponding discipline action for School

Year 2000-2001.

PLAZA LEVEL – 08, THE CAPITOL – TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-0400 – (850) 413-0555 – FAX (850) 488-2869

http:/www.firn.edu/doe

An affirmative action/equal opportunity employer

Please check your data collection system to ensure the following:

1. Each SESIR incident should have an “Incident Identifier Number” and an “Incident

Identifier Date” that match the “Incident Identifier Number” and the “Incident Identifier

Date” for the resulting disciplinary action. Please refer to Items 5 and 6, Page 3, in

2002-2003 School Environmental Safety Incident Report, Automated Student

Reporting Format, Comprehensive Management Information System

at the following

web address to view the “Incident Identifier Number” and “Incident Identifier Date”

http://www.firn.edu/doe/eias/dataweb/database_0203/student_0203/formatu/pdffrmu

Also, please refer to Items 8 and 9, Page 7, at the following web address to view the

“Incident Identifier Number” and the “Incident Identifier Date” in the

Student Discipline/Referral Action, Automated Student Reporting Format,

Comprehensive Management Information System

http://www.firn.edu/doe/eias/dataweb/database_0203/student_0203/formatu/pdffrmu/

These Discipline/Referral Action numbers and dates must be the same for SESIR

2. The “Incident Identifier Number” should be unique for each SESIR incident. Two

incidents should not have the same incident identifier number.

3. Multiple students involved in the same SESIR incident should have the same SESIR

“Incident Identifier Number” on their disciplinary action form. This will ensure that

each SESIR incident is only counted once, even if multiple students are involved and

receive disciplinary actions. Remember that a SESIR incident is per incident, not

Thank you for your continuing efforts at the school and district levels to improve the

accuracy of your records of serious incidents of crime and violence and the resulting

disciplinary actions. An accurate picture of crime and violence in our schools is

important not only to meet federal requirements, but to provide the basis for effective

PLAZA LEVEL – 08, THE CAPITOL – TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-0400 – (850) 413-0555 – FAX (850) 488-2869

http:/www.firn.edu/doe

An affirmative action/equal opportunity employer

needs assessments to identify areas of improvement and funding opportunities and to

measure prevention and intervention program effectiveness.

For further reference, this memorandum is available via the Internet at the address of

http://www.firn.edu/doe/bin00005dpsmemo02/index.htm on the DOE site. The report is

also available on the DOE Internet homepage, under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools

cc: District Safe Schools Contacts

District Safe and Drug-Free Schools Coordinators

District MIS Contacts

School Principals

Dropout Prevention Coordinators

Student Support Services Contacts