Mandatory Reporting of Incidents of Prohibited Behavior in MEDMS Safe/Drug-Free

ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 9

POLICY CODE: JF/KLL

TO: Superintendents of Schools, Assistant Superintendents, School Principals, Special Education Directors and Career and Technical Education Directors

FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner

DATE: September 25, 2007

RE: Mandatory Reporting of Incidents of Prohibited Behavior in MEDMS Safe/Drug-Free Schools (SDFS)Module for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Title IV-A

Please forward this letter to all staff in your school who will be working with incidents data and/or the MEDMS SDFS Module, as all principals, site disciplinarians, MEDMS support personnel, and special education directors will need to understand the purpose, reporting requirements, and technical functions of the module.

Beginning with the start of the 2007-2008 school year, all schools are required to enter 2007-2008 incidents data into the MEDMS Safe/Drug-Free Schools Module for ALL students. Schools will need to establish routine procedures to ensure submission of incidents data to the MEDMS Safe/Drug-Free schools Module. Sending schools are responsible for collecting and entering incidents involving Career and Technical Education students.

Guidance documents and authority links to assist you can be found at the end of this letter.

Background

As you know, incidents data were previously reported to the system managed by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse (OSA). The OSA system required incidents to be reported one time, at the end of each school year. Depending on the number and frequency of incidents that occur in a particular school, the MEDMS SDFS Module may require some schools to develop a schedule to ensure the routine reporting of incidents throughout the school year. The use of one reporting tool, the MEDMS SDFS Module, will result in more efficient use of the LEAs’ time in reporting these data, and more timely consolidation of the data for use by the Department.

Please note that the Office of Substance Abuse (OSA) incidents data collection system is scheduled to end with the reporting of the 2006-2007 data that is currently being entered and processed.

Inquiries:

For specific inquiries regarding the discipline policy applicable to special education students please call the Office of Special Services at 207-624-6650.

For specific inquiries on the policy regarding safe/drug-free schools please call Linda Phillips at 207-287-8904 or Peter Brough at 207-287-6475.

For technical questions regarding the MEDMS Safe/Drug-Free Schools Module please contact the MEDMS helpdesk at MEDMS.helpdesk@maine.gov or 207- 624-6896.

Guidance Links:

Guidance on Reporting Incidents of Prohibited Behavior and List of Reportable Incident Types : http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/Student/reportingsdfsincidents.html

Definitions Regarding Discipline of Special Education Students: http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/SpecEdDisciplineDefinitions.html

A Detailed User Guide to the MEDMS SDF/Module: https://www.medms.maine.gov/MEDMS/usermanual/unit10.htm

Legal Authority and Links:

The Maine Department of Education Office of Special Services (OSS) is required under IDEA to collect these data to compile the Annual Performance Report (APR) and to report to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). [34 CFR 300.601(b)][20 U.S.C. 1416 (a) and (b)]. Additional requirements for reporting by the State are included in the State’s OSEP approved State Performance Plan (SPP). They include the Department’s policy (as one of the approaches allowed under 20 USC 1412(a) (22) and 34 CFR 300.170 and the SPP, and recommended by the Maine Advisory Council for the Education of Children with Disabilities [MACECD] ) of comparing the rates of suspension and expulsion for children with disabilities with the rates for those children without disabilities; and the requirement that suspensions and expulsions of certain durations be reported per the Annual Performance Report (APR) Table 5 Instructions.

The Maine Department of Education NCLB program is required to collect and report these data under NCLB, Title IV- Part A – Safe and Drug-Free Schools. (SEC. 4112 [c] [3] ).

IDEA - statute: http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cdynamic%2CTopicalBrief%2C24%2C ,

IDEA - OSEP- Approved State Performance Plan (SPP)

Language for reporting comparison of regular education and special education students http://www.nectac.org/topics/quality/statereq.asp#state Click on “Indicator Measurement Table” link under Part B SPP/APR Materials, then look under “Data Source” for Indicator 4 on page 3. Please note that this table is for reference only and should not be filled out.

NCLB Title IV-A: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg51.html . Please go to the UNIFORM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND REPORTING SYSTEM section of Title IV-A law, Section 4112 (c) (3), to find the specific references to the collection of incidents data under Title IV-A.