While it is not a regular occurrence in most Arkansas schools, national news indicates that law-enforcement referrals are increasing every day across the country as student safety receives renewed focus. Administrators should be aware that any school-related arrests or law-enforcement referrals must be tracked in eSchool beginning with cycle 7.¹ The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires state report cards to include information on school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement (amongst other discipline data collected).
Because of the ESSA requirement, the infraction information related to referrals to the police has been added to the SIS manual and will be collected in cycle 7 beginning this year. The police information in eSchool is found on the offenders’ page on the police tab in the discipline module.
The following fields will need to be completed if the incident was reported to police:
- reported to police
- date reported
- police department
- police action (located on the General tab on the offender page)
For information about entering discipline information, see the discipline training guide on the Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN) website.
ESSA was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, replacing the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Arkansas’ Every Student Succeeds Act plan received approval January 16, 2018. For more information please visit the ADE website at http://www.arkansased.gov/divisions/public-school-accountability/every-student-succeeds-act-essa.
¹ADE Commissioner’s Memo COM-18-070 from March 19, 2018.