SSS

Student Support Services

Instructions for the School Safety and Educational Climate (SSEC) Reporting System (as of 2021-22 SY)

Instructions for Completing Parts 1-6 of the SSEC Summary Data Collection (Formerly VADIR/DASA)

**These instructions are to be used starting in the 2021-22 school year with the 2021-22 SSEC Reporting Form as per the REVISED Commissioner's Regulations 100.2 (gg)**

Overview

The New York State Education Department’s (SED’s) School Safety and the Educational Climate (SSEC) Summary Data Collection Form is a part of SED’s implementation of the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) and Violent or Disruptive Incident Reporting (VADIR). Data regarding violent or disruptive incidents, as well as incidents of, discrimination, harassment, bullying, and cyberbullying, is compiled to comply with New York State reporting requirements and to designate schools that are persistently dangerous. (8-CRR-NY §120.5)
All public schools, boards of cooperative educational services, charter schools, and county vocational education and extension boards are required to document incidents occurring on school property, including incidents occurring in, or on, a school bus (as defined in Vehicle and Traffic Law §142), and at school functions.
Each year, charter school leaders are required to report data from each charter school, and school district/BOCES superintendents are required to submit data on a district form and for each school in the district, to SED. The SSEC Summary Data Collection Form contains data for the current school year and summer months (July 1st through June 30th), including the summer school session. The SSEC Summary Data Collection Form also includes information (such as the number of incidents, offenders, and targets/victims by type of incident) collected in individual incident reports (IIR), as well as other information relating to school safety and the educational climate. Each incident reported on a district or school form should have been investigated to determine/verify the facts and to identify the appropriate category for reporting.

Additional information about the data collection process includes the following:

Accessing the Online Collection Application:

Problems Accessing the SED Application Business Portal?

The user IDs and passwords necessary for access to the SED Application Business Portal are managed by the SED Delegated Account System (SEDDAS). District and BOCES superintendents and charter school leaders with SEDDAS accounts should direct inquiries regarding user IDs and passwords to SEDDAS@nysed.gov or by visiting the SEDDAS web site.

District’s SSEC Data Collection and Reporting Process

All school districts must submit a separate district form.

  • Log into SED Application Business Portal and then click on the IRS Data Exchange link. Click on the desired form to enter the online data collection or use the “Search” box to look for “SSEC” in the list of data collections.
  • Record on the district form the incidents that are reportable and that are not attributable to any individual school or BOCES operating within the district. An example of this would be the case of an assault that occurred on school transportation where the offender was a student attending an out-of-district placement. The incident is reportable and must be attributed to the district rather than to a school.
  • The district form must be completed, even if there are no incidents to report. When there are no reportable incidents enter zeroes in row (a) only.
  • A school district must report on the district form incidents occurring when students from different schools share a space (cafeteria, gym, etc.) in a district building, including summer school programs.

Reminders:

  • The district report must be certified by the CEO/Superintendent/Charter School Leader before submission will be allowed.
  • If the submitted data are opened for review, and the "Make Changes" is used to make updates then the reviewer will need to “SAVE” each page AND THE CEO/superintendent must click the Attestation button to certify and then CLICK THE “SUBMIT” BUTTON AGAIN.
  • Once the SSEC data are submitted and the portal is closed on the date designated by the Commissioner, the data cannot be changed.
  • If there is a change in superintendent, CEO, or charter school leader, then SEDREF must be updated. Visit SEDREF for more information.
  • Only the CEO/superintendent’s login information will trigger the presence of the “submit” button.

School’s SSEC Data Collection and Reporting Process

The Glossary of Terms provides guidance regarding criteria for determining whether a specific incident is reportable and if so, in which incident category it should be reported. Please review these documents carefully to ensure accurate reporting.


PART 1: Violent or Disruptive incidents and Bias-Related Incidents (Rows a-nn)

  • For categories 1–10, indicate the number of incidents in each category in which a weapon was or was not involved in rows (p-q3).
  • For categories 1–8 indicate the number of incidents in each category that involved drugs or alcohol in rows (r-s). Use category 4 to report incidents exclusively involving weapons possession only.
  • Use category 5a to report counts of material incidents of discrimination, harassment, and bullying. (8-CRR-NY §100.2[kk] and refer to the glossary)
  • Use category 5b to report counts of material incidents of cyberbullying.
  • Use category 6 to report counts of incidents of Bomb Threats.
  • Use category 7 to report counts of incidents of False Alarms.
  • Use category 8 to report counts of incidents of Threats of School Violence (Other than Bomb Threat or False Alarm).
  • Use category 9 to report counts of incidents exclusively involving only the use, possession, or sale of drugs. Use category 10 to report counts of incidents exclusively involving only the use, possession, or sale of alcohol.
  • For categories 9-10, boxes (b-n) have been “grayed out” because if an incident involved a bias, the incident would be reported in the higher weighted category.

Reminders:

  • Each incident must be reported only once in only one category.
  • For incidents that fit more than one category, choose the most serious category. For example, if a student used harassment and a weapon to steal money from another student, then the incident would be reported under weapons possession (category 4) because that is the more serious category.
  • Schools reporting no incidents must report zero (0) in categories 1-10 row (a).
    Incidents must be reported even if the offender has not been identified. Report these incidents in row (ee).
  • Incidents in categories 1-10 must be reported regardless of whether the offender received a disciplinary action or whether a weapon was involved.
  • An issue occurring at a school bus stop is not reportable unless it continues and/or escalates to an incident on the bus or in the
    school. A bus stop is not considered school property for SSEC reporting purposes. (Education Law §2801[1] and 8NYCRR §100.2[gg][1][ii])
  • For reporting purposes, school transportation is considered "on school property."
  • Incidents occurring on school transportation to and from school are reported “before or after regular school hours”.
  • Incidents occurring during a field trip, are reported “during regular school hours” and “at a school function off grounds”.
  • At least one offender (known or unknown) must be reported for each incident in categories 1-10.
  • At least one victim (known or unknown) must be reported for each incident reported in categories 1-3, 5a, 5b, and 8.

Item A: Total Number of incidents
Report the total number of incidents. Count each incident only one time regardless of the number of offenders or targets/victims involved. For incidents that fit more than one category, choose the most serious category.

Item B: Total Number of Biased-Related Incidents
Of the total number of incidents reported in row (a), report the total number of incidents that involved a bias per category in row b.

Items C-N: Bias-related incidents

  • Each incident involving bias related conduct (see glossary) must be reported in all rows (c-n) that apply as determined by investigation.
  • Incidents reported in row (n) include but are not limited to physical characteristics, socio-economic status, health conditions, housing, domestic relationships, social/academic status, etc.

Examples:

  • If a student used skin color and offensive slurs to harass a female student, then the incident would be reported in rows (f and n), and category 5a.
  • If an incident involving a student victim, student and unknown offenders and includes verbal assaults, such as name-calling, but no physical contact, and that incident occurred on school grounds, it would be reported in rows (m, o, t, x, z, cc, and ee) and category 5a. Note: in this case, the offenders were identified as one student offender and 2 unknown offenders contributing as a group.
  • If an incident occurs where a student receives religious and sexual slurs in an electronic communication from another student, after school hours and off school property, then the incident would be reported in rows (h, l, v, z, cc, and y) under category 5b.
  • When an incident involves one student physically assaulting a transgender student on school grounds while yelling a homophobic slur then it will be reported in row (j) and category 3.

Item p: Incidents not involving a weapon

  • Report the total number of incidents in row (a) that did not involve a weapon.

Items q-q3: Incidents involving a weapon

  • In row (q), report the total number of incidents in row (a) that involved a weapon (refer to glossary).
  • Based on the number of incidents reported in row (q), report the number of incidents that involved firearms in row (q1).
  • Based on the number of incidents reported in row (q), report the number of incidents that involved knives in row (q2).
  • Based on the number of incidents reported in row (q), report the number of incidents that involved “other” weapons in row (q3).

Items r and s: Incidents involving alcohol and/or drugs

  • For all incidents in row (a) for categories 1-8, report the number of incidents in which the offender possessed, sold, or was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Items t-v: Location

  • Report the number of the incidents according to location and recorded in categories 1–10.
  • For categories 1-4 and 7-10, the sum of incidents reported by location (t-u) must equal the sum of incidents reported in row (a).
  • For categories 5-6, and 8 the sum of incidents reported by location (t-v) must equal the sum of incidents reported in row (a).
  • Incidents occurring in the following locations are reportable:
    • On school property
    • In or on a school bus as defined in Vehicle and Traffic Law §142
    • At a school function, regardless of where the school-sponsored or school-authorized extracurricular event or activity takes place, including any event or activity that may take place in another state.
    • Off school property when the incident creates substantial disruption in the school environment. (8 CRR-NY §100.2 [kk])
  • Reportable incidents that occur off school property and create a risk of disruption within the school environment would fall under categories 5,6 and 8 and are also noted in row (v).

Item W: On school transportation

  • Of the incidents reported in row (t), report the number of incidents that occurred on school transportation.

Items x and y: Time

  • Report the number of incidents according to time of occurrence and recorded in categories 1-10.
  • The sum of those incidents occurring during or outside of regular school hours (rows x and y) must equal the sum of incidents reported in row (a).

Items z-bb: Victims

  • For each incident reported in categories 1-3, report at least one target/victim. Report at least one student target/victim for each incident reported in category 5. Only students can be targets/victims reported in category 5.
  • If the target/victim is a student, report in row (z).
  • If the target/victim is a staff member, report in row (aa).
  • If the target/victim is unknown or if the target/victim is neither an enrolled student nor a staff member, report in row (bb).
  • If the number of targets/victims is unknown, report one target/victim in the appropriate row (bb).

Items cc-ee: Offenders

  • Regardless of the number of offenders, each incident is only reported (and weighted) once.
  • Offenders should be counted in Part 1 each time they were involved in an incident. For example, if a student engaged as an offender in ten different material bullying incidents then for the incidents reported under category 5a, the student would be counted ten times as an offender in row (cc).
  • Report the type of offender of each incident reported in categories 1-10 whether known or unknown. Report all offenders if more than one per incident; report one offender if the names or number of offenders is unknown in the appropriate rows(cc-ee).
  • If the offender is a student, report in row (cc).
  • If the offender is a staff member, including any paid employee of the school or district, report in row (dd).
  • If the offender is unknown and is neither a student nor a staff member, report in row (ee).
  • Count unknown offenders as separate individuals.

Items ff-mm: Disciplinary action or referral for student offenders

  • Report any student discipline or referral action taken against a student offender.
    All verified (determined by investigation) incidents are reported regardless of whether a disciplinary/referral action was taken.

Item nn: Unduplicated offender count for serious incidents

  • Report each offender only once regardless of the number of serious violent incidents (categories 1-4) in which the person was involved as an offender.

The Following Data is Collected for Federal Reporting Requirements

Part 2: Targets/victims of Violent Criminal Offenses and Unsafe School Transfers
(According to CRR-NY §120.5, a violent criminal offense shall mean a crime that involved infliction of serious physical injury upon another as defined in penal law, a sex offense that involved forcible compulsion or any other offense defined in the penal law that involved the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon.)


Schools must allow targets/victims of violent criminal offenses an opportunity to transfer to another school within the district or Local Educational Agency (LEA) if such a transfer is possible (i.e. if the district has another school with that grade level). In addition, schools designated as persistently dangerous must also offer students an opportunity to transfer to a safe school within the district, including a charter school, if such a transfer opportunity exists.

  • Report the number of students who were targets/victims of a violent criminal offense in Part 2(a).
  • In Part 2(b), report the number of students in Part 2(a) who requested to transfer to another school in the district. In Part 2(c), report the number of students in Part 2(b) who accepted the transfer to another school.
  • In Part 2(d), indicate whether the school is designated Persistently Dangerous (PD) during the current school year. In Part 2(e), report the number of students that requested to transfer from a PD school to a safe school within the district.
  • In Part 2(f), report the number of students in Part 2(e) who accepted the transfer from a PD school to another school in the district.
  • If the school was not designated as a PD school during the current school year, leave Part 2(e) and Part 2(f) blank.


Reminder:

  • Once a school is designated as persistently dangerous, the designation remains until the school superintendent or charter school leader petitions to have the designation removed and the Commissioner of Education or his/her designee approves the petition.


Part 3: Police or Safety Officer in the School

  • Indicate whether a school safety agent, police or other safety resource officer is present in the school on a regularly scheduled basis.

Part 4: School Related Arrests

  • Schools must report the total number of school-related arrests.
  • A school-related arrest refers to the arrest of a student for any illegal activity conducted on school grounds and is reported in Part 4.
    • For example, if a group of students break into the school, steal laptops, and are arrested. The arrests would be school-related arrests.
  • When a student is arrested at school for a crime committed on school grounds, or during an off-campus school activity (including while taking school transportation), the arrest is reported in Part 4.
  • When a school official refers a student to law enforcement as the result of a reportable incident, report any arrest in Part 4 and the incident under the appropriate category 1-10, as well as row (mm).
  • Referrals to law enforcement for assistance when the escalation of a personal crisis results in a student being removed and/or escorted from school for his/her safety, is not reportable as a school related arrest.

Part 5: Weapon Type and Firearms-Related Suspensions

This section collects unduplicated count of students who were involved in an incident involving a firearm as defined in the US Department of Education EdFacts data collection for Gun Free Schools Act (GFSA). (For 2020-21 SY see Section 2.6 of the EdFacts File Specifications for definitions.)

Report the number of the enrolled students involved (as an offender not target) in the weapons incidents by weapon type in Part 5 (a-e).

  • Each weapon type is labeled. If a student offender possessed or used multiple weapons of different types, count the offender under multiple weapons type row (d), but do not report in the other separate categories.
  • Report the number of students with disabilities separately from general education students for rows (a-l).
  • Row (f): report the number of students that were suspended for one year and were provided instruction for possessing a firearm at school.
  • Row (g): report the number of students that were suspended for one year and were not provided instruction for possessing a firearm at school.
  • Row (h): report the number of students whose suspension was modified to less than one year and were provided instruction for possessing a firearm at school.
  • Row (i): report the number of students whose suspension was modified and were not provided instruction for possessing a firearm at school.
  • Row (j): report the number of students who received no suspension because the student was removed for other reasons such as death, withdrawal, or incarceration.
  • Row (k): report the number of students who received a different disciplinary action (this should be rare).
  • Row(l): report the number of students who received no disciplinary action (this should be extremely rare).

Part 6: Superintendent/Charter school leader Contact, Unsafe School Choice and Code of Conduct

  • Enter the name, email address, date and phone number of the superintendent or charter school leader certifying data submission.
  • District superintendents and charter school leaders should then complete the Unsafe School Choice question certifying whether the school is in compliance with the unsafe school choice provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, 20 U.S.C. sections 6301 et seq., (Public Law 114-95, title 1, section 8532, 129 STAT. 1802).
  • If the school had no students who were determined to be targets/victims of a violent criminal offense and the school is not designated as persistently dangerous, then the answer to the Unsafe School Choice question is “yes”. A school is considered in compliance with the policy if the circumstances that trigger unsafe school choice have not occurred (see Part 2).
  • District and BOCES superintendents and charter school leaders must also complete the Code of Conduct question by filling in the URL/web address (including the http:// prefix) at which the Code of Conduct is posted. (8 CRR-NY §100.2[l][2][iii][b][1] and Education Law §2801, Chapter 16, Title II, Article 55)

Final Reminders:

  • When the form is completed, and the last question saved, a screen will appear with all of the questions and responses. There will be an opportunity to “Make Changes”.
  • After reviewing the responses, the CEO or Superintendent must click the Attestation box at the bottom of the page to certify the accuracy of the data.
  • Once submitted, the “Make Changes” button will be available to un-submit the form and allow for any corrections or updates up until the date listed on the home screen of the IRS Data Exchange.
  • If the submitted data are opened for review, and the "Make Changes" is used to make updates then the reviewer will need to “SAVE” each page AND THE CEO/superintendent must click the Attestation button to certify and then CLICK THE “SUBMIT” BUTTON AGAIN.
  • Only the superintendent’s login information will trigger the presence of the “submit” button.
  • Once the SSEC data are submitted and the portal is closed on the date designated by the Commissioner the data cannot be changed.

Additional Guidance and Resources

  • Glossary of Terms Used in the Annual Reporting of School Safety and Educational Climate (SSEC)
  • Questions and Answers Regarding SSEC Reporting (coming soon)
  • NYSED Office of Student Support Services Dignity For All Students Act website
  • Resources for SSEC reporting N YS Center for School Safety
  • NYSED Memo about Important Changes to SSEC Data Collection for the 2021-22 School Year (coming soon)
  • NYSED Memo about Important Changes to Data Collection for the school year 2017-18
  • Available Guidance and Resources to Combat Harassment, Bullying and Discrimination in Schools in Light of Recent Immigration-related Actions
  • Information Regarding Recent Immigration-related Actions (Translated into 27 Languages)
  • Joint Guidance from NYS Attorney General and NYSED to aid school districts in complying with the Dignity For All Students Act
  • Guidance on Rights of Immigrant Students and Dignity for All Students Act Now Available in 20 Languages NYSED and New York State Safe Schools Task Force Recommendations and Updates PowerPoint
  • New York State Safe Schools Task Force’s 36 Recommendations
  • NYSED Guidance to School Districts for Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students
  • NYC Department of Education’s Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Student Guidelines

For additional information on SSEC, contact the State Education Department’s Office of Student Support Services at 518- 486-6090 or S SEC@nysed.gov.

For additional professional development or technical assistance, contact New York State Center for School Safety at 844-509-7161.

For additional information and/or technical assistance on data collection, contact the State Education Department’s Information and Reporting Services unit, at 518-474-7965 or IMF BEDS & VADIR/DASA Help Center


Please note: Q & A document will be available soon.

 

Last Updated: July 1, 2022