Table A is used to report incidents that involve physical injury, the threat of physical injury, or the use of a weapon

Directions for Completing the

Summary of

Violent and Disruptive Incidents form

2004-05

The New York State Education Department has made minor revisions to the definitions and decision rules for reporting violent and disruptive incidents to improve the quality, reliability, and consistency of the data reported by schools. A Summary of Violent and Disruptive Incidents (Summary Form), which tallies counts of incidents recorded on all Individual Violent or Disruptive Incidents Report forms (Individual Incident Report) for an entire school year, must be completed the following fall. Summary data will be used to determine the rate of violent and disruptive incidents in each school and to identify schools as persistently dangerous, as required by the No Child Left Behind Act. All schools must file this report. Schools reporting no incidents must report zero (0) in Categories 1-20 Column (a), Item 2, Item 6 and questions in Item 7 must be answered.

The reporting categories on the new 2004–05 Summary Form are slightly modified from those on the Violent and Disruptive Incidents Report (VADIR) form used to record individual incidents during the 2003–04 school year. To complete the new Summary Form, the school administrator must review the definitions provided in the Glossary provided with these directions.

A summary of the changes for 2004-05 is as follows:

1. Summarized definitions are included in each category on the Summary Form. Detailed definitions remain in the Glossary.

2. The order of incident categories was modified based on recommendations from SED's partner agency, The Division of Criminal Justice Services and members of the State Legislature.

3. Sexual Offenses: report requires two rather than three subcategories- see Glossary of Terms, Incident Category #2.

4. Minor Altercations (Assaults) (Category 9) replaces Criminal Harassment for reporting incidents involving physical contact and no physical injury.

5. Burglary, Larceny and Other Theft Offenses was split into two categories- 1. Burglary (Category 11), 2. Larceny and Other Theft Offenses (Category 13)

6. New category: Riot (see Glossary of Terms)

7. Use, Possession, or Sale of Drugs or Alcohol split into two categories (Categories 18 and 19) (see Glossary of Terms.)

8. All incidents meeting disciplinary criteria resulting in counseling or treatment programs are reported.

9. All weapons involved in an incident are reported in Item 5 (see pg. 3 in this document).

On the Summary Form, incident categories are numbered. Each incident must be reported in only one category. If the incident involves more than one category, report it in the category with the lowest number, which is generally the most severe infraction. For example, if an incident involves a robbery (Category 3) and an assault with physical injury (Category 7), report the incident in Category 3. Category definitions are in the Glossary provided with these directions. It is essential that you review these definitions carefully to ensure that each incident is reported in the correct category. Reporting incidents in the wrong category could result in a school being incorrectly identified as persistently dangerous.

Incidents must be reported even if the offender has not been identified. Report these incidents in the appropriate category in Column (a) and Column (i) (if incident occurred on school transportation), Item 2, Item 4 and Item 5.

On the Summary Form, Categories 1–8 are used to report incidents that involve physical injury or the threat of physical injury. Incidents in these categories must be reported regardless of whether or not the offender was disciplined or referred to law enforcement.

Categories 9–16 and 20 are used to report incidents (not reportable in Categories 1–8) that disrupt the educational process and are serious enough to lead to the disciplinary or referral actions listed on the form, or that involve weapons regardless of whether or not they result in a disciplinary action or referral.

The Intimidation, Harassment, Menacing, or Bullying Category is unique in that all incidents or complaints, of which the school principal or other school administrator responsible for school discipline are aware, must be reported. If the incident results in one of the disciplinary actions listed on the form (columns j-o), it must be reported in Category 10. If the incident did not result in one of these actions, it must be reported in Item 2 on page 3 of the form.

Category 17 is used to report incidents that involved the possession of a weapon but were not associated with an offense reportable in Categories 1–16. (Refer to Glossary of Terms.)

Categories 18 and 19 are used to report incidents that involved the use, possession, or sale of drugs or alcohol but do not meet the criteria to be reported in Categories 1–16.

Completing the Summary Form

To complete Item 1 (Violent and Disruptive Incidents), sort the Individual VADIR forms by new Summary Form categories. Determine the number of incidents for each category and record them on the Summary Form. For Categories 1–4, 6–13 and 16, indicate the number of incidents in each category in which a weapon was or was not involved. For Categories 1–17 and 20, indicate the number of incidents in each category that were drug or alcohol related. Use Category 17 to report counts of incidents that involved weapons possession only. Use Category 18 to report counts of incidents that involved only the possession, use, or sale of drugs and Category 19 to report counts of incidents that involved only the possession, use, or sale of alcohol.

To complete Item 2 (Other Information Regarding Intimidation, Harassment, Menacing, or Bullying) report any alleged incident of intimidation, harassment, menacing, or bullying of students or staff reported to the school principal or other school administrator responsible for student discipline by any source, such as a staff member, student, parent or other concerned citizen, that was not reported under Category 10. Incidents of intimidation, harassment, menacing, or bullying that resulted in a disciplinary action listed in Columns j-o should be reported under Category 10. Incidents that did not result in a listed disciplinary action must be reported under Item 2, page 3. No incident reported under Category 10 should also be reported in Item 2.

To complete Item 3 (Incidents Where the Offender is Not an Enrolled Student), report the number of staff or any paid employee of the school or district or other offenders not enrolled in the school involved in a violent or disruptive incident. Report staff or other student offenders referred to the school of enrollment, law enforcement, or other disciplinary action.

To complete Item 4 (Location, Time, and Nature of Incidents), report the number of the incidents reported in categories 1–20 of the Summary Form by location and time and the number of these incidents that were gang or bias related. The sum of incidents reported by location (4A+4B) must equal the sum of those reported by time (4c+4d.)

Note: For reporting purpose, school transportation is considered "on school property". Incidents occurring on school transportation to and from school are reported before or after regular school hours unless the incident occurs during regular school hours.

To complete Item 5 (Other Information Regarding Incidents Involving Weapons) For every incident involving weapons use or possession (Categories 1–4, 6–13, 16 or 17) provide counts of:

· the weapons involved by weapon type; and

· students who were suspended or transferred to alternative programs for bringing a firearm to school.

Each weapon type is numbered. If an incident involved multiple weapon types, count all weapon types. For example, if an incident involved both a handgun (1) and a knife (4), count the incident in the handgun (1) category and in the knife (4) category. If the incident involves more than one of the same weapon type report the total number of weapons used in the appropriate weapon category.

To complete Item 6 (Victims of Violent Criminal Offenses), report the number of students who were victims of a violent criminal offense pursuant to No Child Left Behind.

To complete Item 7 (Police or Safety Officer in the School), indicate with a check (Ö) whether a police or other safety officer is present in the school on a regularly scheduled basis and whether that officer provided information for this report.

Complete the school contact information on the last page of the Summary Form and send the form to the school superintendent for the superintendent’s review and certification.