DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 86
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Unsafe
School Choice Option: Identification
of Persistently Dangerous Schools |
The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, at
Title IX, Section 9532 requires each state receiving funds from the act to
establish and implement a statewide Unsafe School Choice Option Policy. Specifically, the requirement states:
SEC.
9532.
UNSAFE SCHOOL CHOICE OPTION
(a) UNSAFE SCHOOL
CHOICE POLICY- Each State receiving funds under this Act shall establish and
implement a statewide policy requiring that a student attending a persistently
dangerous public elementary school or secondary school, as determined by the
State in consultation with a representative sample of local educational
agencies, or who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, as determined
by State law, while in or on the grounds of a public elementary school or
secondary school that the student attends, be allowed to attend a safe public
elementary school or secondary school within the local educational agency,
including a public charter school.
(b) CERTIFICATION- As a condition of
receiving funds under this Act, a State shall certify in writing to the
Secretary that the State is in compliance with this section.
The Virginia Board
of Education’s statewide policy, adopted May 23, 2002, on students attending a
persistently dangerous public elementary school or secondary school or becoming
victims of a violent criminal offense while in or on the grounds of a public
elementary school or secondary school, is to provide those students with the
opportunity to attend a safe public elementary school or secondary school
within the local educational agency.
The
Board of Education on
At
its
The
approved plan contains the following changes:
·
· The terms for some
incidents have been changed to align with the definitions for these offenses
provided in the 2002-2003 Annual Report
on Discipline, Crime, and Violence.
Specifically, the terms “rape and attempted rape” have been replaced
with “sexual assault offenses.”
·
· Effective with the
2003-2004 school year, three incidents have been added to the criteria: “aggravated sexual battery,” “malicious
wounding without a weapon,” and “illegal possession of controlled drugs and
substances with intent to sell or distribute.”
The
process for identifying schools remains the same as described in the proposal,
with the use of data on incidents to be applied as follows:
Data
collected for the 1999-2000 school year and reported in the Annual Report on Discipline, Crime, and
Violence will be used as baseline data for determining whether there are
persistently dangerous schools. Since the schools must be identified for the
first time by July of 2003, the first round of school identification will use
available data on reported incidents from the 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and
2001-2002 annual reports. These
incidents include homicide, sexual assault offenses, and use of a bomb or
explosive device; assault with a firearm or other weapon, actual and attempted
robbery, and kidnapping/abduction; and illegal possession of a handgun,
rifle/shotgun, projectile weapon, bomb, or other firearms.
Beginning
with the school year 2003-2004, the Annual
Report on Discipline, Crime and Violence will be modified to add certain
incidents that are felonies and to clarify definitions of these incidents for
separate reporting of their occurrence.
These incidents are “malicious wounding without a weapon,” “aggravated
sexual battery,” and “illegal possession of controlled drugs and substances
with intent to distribute or sell.” The
crimes will be added to the criteria for identification of persistently
dangerous schools when the data are collected for the report.
The
Virginia Board of Education’s established thresholds of incidents per year will
be used to identify a persistently dangerous school over a consecutive
three-year period. A copy of the
approved plan is attached.
Data
provided by school divisions for the Annual Report on Discipline, Crime, and
Violence for the past three years is currently being reviewed. Should your division have a school that is
identified as being “Cautioned,” “On Probation,” or “Persistently Dangerous,”
you will be contacted prior to
Questions
may be directed to
JLD/ADC/saj
Attachment
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/suptsmemos/2003/inf086a.pdf