EVVRS%20Training

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EVVRS Training

• February 2008

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Agenda

• EVVRS Background
• Summary of Changes
• USCO
• Accessing the EVVRS
• Data Entry and Modification
• Scenario Exercises
• Annual District Report
• Public Access

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Why the EVVRS? Implementing the Law

• Public School Safety Law 18A17-46
• Any school employee observing or having direct
  knowledge from a participant or victim of an act
  of violence shall, in accordance with standards
  established by the commissioner, file a report
  describing the incident to the school principal
  in a manner prescribed by the commissioner.

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Why the EVVRS? Reporting Other Suspensions

• In order to report to the federal government on
  the removal from the normal instructional setting
  of students with disabilities, the EVVRS is also
  used when a student with a disability is
  suspended for reasons other than violence,
  vandalism, weapons and substance abuse. (Examples
  in Appendix B, User Manual)

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EVVRS Data What happens to it?

• Every year, the N.J. Commissioner of Education
  uses EVVRS data to report to the N.J. Legislature
  on violence, vandalism, and substance abuse in
  N.J. public schools.
• The NJDOE uses the data to report to the U.S.
  Department of Education on public school safety
  and the suspension of students with disabilities.

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EVVRS Data What happens to it?

• Districts are legally bound to hold an annual
  public hearing at which information about
  district incidents of violence and vandalism is
  presented.
• Recommended documents for the hearing are
• Annual District Report (required)
• Incident Listing
• Incident Category Summary

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Summary of Changes to the EVVRS2007-08

• Incident Header Changes
• School Entrance was added to Location.
• The definition of Bias was broadened.
• Gang Related was added to the header and can
  apply to any incident. Check Yes if gang related.

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Bias

• Bias means that an incident is reasonably
  perceived as motivated by any actual or perceived
  characteristic, such as race, color, religion,
  ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual
  orientation, gender identity and expression, a
  mental, physical, or sensory disability, or any
  other distinguishing characteristic.

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Bias

• Bias can play a role in any EVVRS-defined
  incident.
• The EVVRS does not distinguish who exhibits bias,
  only that bias is associated with the incident as
  a whole.

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Bias

• To determine whether bias played a role, consider
  if there was
• Admission by the perpetrator of bias motivation.
• Obvious signs of bias such as utterance of
  racial epithets or use of hate graffiti.
• A victim expressing that bias motives were
  involved.
• A history of bias incidents among the involved
  students.

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Gang Related

• Select Yes if there is confirmation from a law
  enforcement official, the victim, or the offender
  that the incident is gang related.

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Off-Site Program

• When you select Off-Site Program from the
  location menu you must enter a name in the
  Incident Description field.
• It must be entered the same way each time.

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Summary of Changes to the EVVRS

• Incident Detail Changes
• Gang/Group Fight has been removed. You can select
  Fight and Gang Related.
• Threat is no longer a separate category. It has
  been added to Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying.
  
• Terroristic Threat has been changed to Criminal
  Threat and the definition has been revised.
• Unauthorized Over the Counter Drugs has been
  added to Substance Type.

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Summary of Changes to the EVVRS

• Incident Detail Changes Continued
• Air Gun, Pellet Gun, and BB Gun category has been
  moved to Other Weapon Type. (Dont count under
  policy of automatic one-year removal for firearm
  offense.)
• Toy Gun has been removed from Other Weapon Type
  and is no longer reported on the EVVRS.

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Summary of Changes to the EVVRS

• Additions to Offender Information
• Medical Treatment provided for bodily injury.
• Grade (Select Un-Graded for a student with a
  disability who does not have a grade-level
  assignment).

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User Manual

• The latest version of the EVVRS User Manual
  reflects significant changes and will help you
  use the EVVRS.
• It is available through the Homeroom in Word and
  HTML formats.
• The User Manual contains bookmarks (similar to
  hyperlinks) that will move you directly to a
  specific section of the manual.

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Unsafe School Choice Option

• Students have the option to transfer to another
  school in their district if
• Their school is Persistently Dangerous, or
• They are the Victim of a Violent Criminal
  Offense.
• A referral is made to law enforcement.
• The offense is among those listed in Appendix C
  of the User Manual.
• Fights are not included in calculation.

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EVVRS Demo

• The EVVRS Welcome Page
• Entering Data
• Modifying Data
• Printing Reports
• Verifying Data of the Annual District Report

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Accessing the EVVRS

• Do not use w w w. Use the following address
• http//homeroom.state.nj.us

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If you became an EVVRS user midway through the
year, please check Notices for important updates
and information that you may have missed.
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Data Entry
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EVVRS Data Entry Overview

• The DOE recommends entering incident data monthly
  or at a minimum, 3 times a year
• July-December, in January
• January-March, in April
• April-June, end of June.

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What Districts Must Report

• An incident that takes place on school grounds,
  at a school-sponsored event or on a school bus.
• Student behavior that meets one of the incident
  definitions.
• The offender must be cognitively and
  developmentally mature enough to understand the
  consequences of his/her actions.

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In-District Reporting v. EVVRS Reporting

• A district board of educations Code of Student
  Conduct may specify consequences for behaviors
  other than EVVRS-defined offenses and the school
  may wish to collect data on these. However, these
  incidents should not be reported using the EVVRS
  unless the consequence is the suspension of a
  student with disabilities.

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Some Examples of What Not to Report on the EVVRS
as a VV-SA Incident

• A minor push or scuffle.
• A threat lacking true intent or verbal attacks
  that are not threats.
• A suicide threat.
• The lighting of a match.
• Possession of a toy gun.
• A shouting match between students.
• A fight between students at a bus stop.

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Two Categories of Incidents

• VV-SA An incident of violence, vandalism,
  weapons, or substance abuse involving any
  student.
• Other-Spec. Ed. The suspension or removal of a
  student with a disability (of at least one full
  day) for any reason other than violence,
  vandalism, weapons, or substance abuse.

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Other Incidents Involving Students with
Disabilities

• Districts must report, as specified by IDEA, all
  in-school suspensions of at least one full day in
  duration as well as all out-of-school short- and
  long-term suspensions for which a student with a
  disability is removed from his or her regular
  classroom.
• If the suspension resulted from an incident
  involving violence, vandalism, weapons or
  substance abuse, report the incident using the
  VV-SA button not the Other-Special Ed data entry
  button.

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Program Provided Upon Disciplinary Action
If you select short-term suspension to indicate
an in-school suspension, select in-school
suspension from the Program Provided drop-down
list below.
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Who Enters Data?

• All staff members are responsible for reporting
  incidents to the principal or their designee.
• Assigning responsibility for entering EVVRS data
  is the districts decision.
• To ensure integrity of EVVRS data, as few people
  as possible should be assigned this role.
• There can be one or more central users who report
  for all schools. Or there can be one or more
  users at each school. School users only see their
  schools data.

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Ensuring Accurate Reporting Requires

• In-depth knowledge of incident definitions.
• In-service training (pg xv of User Manual).
• Reliance on staff who are experienced with EVVRS.
• Developing a team approach.
• Staying current by visiting the Welcome page
  regularly and checking e-mail for EVVRS notices.

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Reporting Tips

• There can be multiple offense categories in one
  incident report.
• Kidnapping, Bomb and Firearm Offense incidents
  require an entry in the Incident Description
  Field. The DOE recommends you enter a description
  for all incidents.
• The EVVRS reporting year ends June 30th.
  Incidents in the summer months should be reported
  in the fall of the following year.

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One Incident Can Have Many Offenders and/or Many
Victims
Remember to write the incident on your paper
forms!

• .

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To add, change or view data
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Searching for Records

• Always identify the school first.

Your Search Results Page will display data
entered through yesterday. Data entered today may
be viewed tomorrow.
Duplicate Incident Numbers?
These are most likely not duplicates, as there is
one listing of an incident for each
offender/victim.
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Click on Incident Number to

• Add an offender record.
• Add a victim record.
• Change incident information.

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Click on Offender Type to

• Change an action.
• Change number of days.
• Change program provided.
• Delete an offender.

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Click on Victim Type to

• Delete a victim.
• Change Victim of Violent Criminal Offense
  information.

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Click on Student ID to

• Change student information such as
• Name
• Gender
• Grade
• Race
• Student Disability Category

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Can I change Student ID?Can I change Offender
Type?
NO!

• Delete the offender record
• and re-enter the information.

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Can I delete an incident?
NO!

• Re-enter the information as a new incident, then
  e-mail the EVVRS to delete the original incident.

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Can I change user information?

• The User Maintenance page allows you to modify
• Name
• Phone
• E-mail address
• Password

To establish a new user Request your District
Web User Administrator to create a new account.
Then, delete the old user.
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EVVRS Password Tips

• If you temporarily give your password to someone
  so they can enter data on your behalf, be sure to
  change it when you return.
• An account should be deleted by the Web User
  administrator if a user is no longer responsible
  for entering data.

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Scenario Exercises

• Would you report it over the EVVRS?
• If so, how would you report it, that is, what
  type of incident would it be?
• Could something like this occur in your school?

The scenarios can be found in a separate
document on the Welcome Page.
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Scenario Tips

• The student behavior must meet one of the
  incident definitions.
• The decision to report an incident to the state
  is independent of the schools disciplinary
  actions.
• The offender must be cognitively and
  developmentally mature enough to understand the
  consequences of their actions.

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The Stick

• Scenario 1

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Simple Assault

• A person attempts to cause or purposely,
  knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury
  to another.

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The Ruler

• Scenario 2

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Assault with Other Weapon

• Attacking or physically harming someone with a
  knife, club, stun gun, chain, pepper spray, or
  any other instrument, other than a firearm, that
  is readily capable of lethal use or of inflicting
  serious bodily injury.

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The Boys Room

• Scenario 3

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Simple Assault

• A person attempts to cause or purposely,
  knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury
  to another.

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Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, Threat
H,I,B,T

• Any gesture, written, verbal, or physical act,
  or electronic or wireless communication that
• a reasonable person should know, under the
  circumstances, the act will have the effect of
  alarming (i.e., fear created by imminent danger)
  or harming (e.g., physically, emotionally) a
  student or staff member, or of damaging their
  property OR

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Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, Threat
H,I,B,T (continued)

• Any gesture, written, verbal, or physical act,
  or electronic or wireless communication that
• has the effect of insulting or demeaning any
  student or group of students in such a way to
  cause a substantial disruption in, or to
  substantially interfere with, the orderly
  operation of the school.

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Bias as a Factor when Determining Punishment for
Fighting (from Ed Daily)

• A teacher steps into the middle of a fight in
  progress. Both students are equally injured. But
  do they deserve equal punishment? A district
  should always consider what led to a fight when
  fashioning a fitting punishment. If one pupil was
  motivated by racism, or if another was defending
  himself against a racially inspired attack, a
  district must factor this in or risk a
  discrimination claim.

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The Knife

• Scenario 4

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Criminal Threat

• Expressing either physically or verbally the
  intent to commit one of the following violent
  criminal offenses homicide, aggravated assault,
  sexual assault, kidnapping or arson. The threat
  must be made for the purpose of placing another
  in imminent fear of one of these violent acts,
  under circumstances that would reasonably cause
  the victim(s) to believe the immediacy of the
  threat and the likelihood that it will be carried
  out.

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Aggravated Assault

• A person attempts to cause serious bodily injury
  to another, or causes such injury purposely or
  knowingly, or under circumstances manifesting
  indifference to the value of human life,
  recklessly causes such injury (e.g., injury which
  creates a substantial risk of death, or which
  causes permanent disfigurement, or protracted
  loss or impairment of the function of any bodily
  member or organ).

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The Threat

• Scenario 5

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Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, Threat
H,I,B,T

• Any gesture, written, verbal, or physical act,
  or electronic or wireless communication that
• a reasonable person should know, under the
  circumstances, the act will have the effect of
  alarming (i.e., fear created by imminent danger)
  or harming (e.g., physically, emotionally) a
  student or staff member, or of damaging their
  property

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Is it Simple or Aggravated Assault?

• Extra Credit Scenario

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Fight in the Hallway (based on true events)

• Two sophomore students, Tom and Eli, got into a
  fist fight in the hallway of Ridgemont High. A
  school resource officer (SRO) and a teacher tried
  to separate the boys. The boys struck both the
  teacher and the SRO several times even after the
  SRO instructed them to stop. The teacher was
  treated for an abrasion on his cheek. The SRO
  filed a complaint with the police.

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How would this be reported?

• While law enforcement may upgrade the charge
  from simple assault to aggravated assault because
  the incident involved a staff member and/or a law
  enforcement official, the EVVRS does not. The
  incident would be reported on the EVVRS based on
  the severity of the offense.

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How would this be reported?

• This would be reported as a Fight with both boys
  as offenders.
• It would also be reported as either a Simple
  Assault or Aggravated Assault (it would depend on
  the severity of the assault) with both boys as
  offenders and the teacher and SRO as victims.

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Simple Assault Fight in the Same Incident
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The Annual District Report

• The report provides year-end information about
  all violence, vandalism, weapons and substance
  abuse incidents that were reported using the
  EVVRS.
• Near the end of every reporting year, districts
  are required to carefully check, or verify, the
  Annual Report to determine its accuracy and to
  correct any information that is incorrect.

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Steps in Verifying Your Data in the Annual
District Report

1. Check to make sure all schools data are entered.
2. Review the incidents listed for each school in
   the Incident Listing Report click the incident
   hyperlink to check incident details. Or, after
   printing incident listing, have each school
   review records of all its suspensions to
   determine if any incidents have been left off the
   EVVRS.

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Steps in Verifying Your Data in the Annual
District Report (continued)

1. Make changes, including request to DOE to delete
   incidents, if necessary.
2. Conduct a final review of the Annual Report.
3. Have Superintendent or his/her designee sign the
   Fax-Back Verification form.
4. Fax in form only. Due July 18, 2008

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Where is the Verification Form?
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The document can be opened from here or saved
directly to your files.
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Verification Form
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Public Access

• Multiple years data
• District and State trends
• Any district or schools data
• Data, however, is limited to summary reports.
• Only verified data are displayed.

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Questions?

• EVVRS_at_doe.state.nj.us
• If about students with disabilities Attention
  Andrew
• All other questions Attention Theresa
• For EVVRS account users and the public
• EVVRS-PSD_at_doe.state.nj.us if you are a private
  school for the disabled
• Call Theresa _at_ 609-292-1288