Policy 512-R Staff Notification of Violent Behavior By Students Regulations

A. History of Violent Behavior

1. A student will be considered to have a history of violent behavior if incident(s) of violence, including any documented physical assault of a school district employee by the student, have occurred during the current or previous school year.
2. If a student has an incident of violence during the current or previous school year, that incident and all other past related or similar incidents of violence will be reported. 

B. Incident(s) of Violence

1. “Incident(s) of violence” means willful conduct in which a student endangers or causes physical injury to person(s) or endangers or causes significant damage to property, regardless of whether related to a disability or whether discipline was imposed.  This does not include injury or damage which is accidental or is the result of negligence.  An incident of violence includes an incident described in notices received from either law enforcement or the juvenile courts. 

C. Legitimate Educational Interest
For purposes of federal and state law, a school staff member is determined to have a legitimate educational interest in data related to a history of violent behavior if the data requested are:

1. Necessary for that school staff member to perform appropriate tasks that are specified in his or her position description or by a contract agreement; 
2. Used solely within the context of school business and not for purposes extraneous to the school staff member’s areas of responsibility or to the school;
3. Relevant to the accomplishment of a job-related task or to a determination about the student; and
4. Consistent with the purposes for which the data are maintained.

D. School Staff Member

1. A person duly elected to the school board.
2. A person licensed by the State and appointed by the School Board to an administrative, supervisory, instructional or other professional position such as a principal, teacher, counselor or school psychologist;
3. A person employed by or under contract to the School Board to perform a special task such as a paraprofessional, school bus driver, secretary, clerk, occupational therapist, or the School Board attorney for the period of his or her performance as an employee or contractor; and
4. A substitute for personnel listed above for the period of his or her performance as a substitute.
 

A. Report of Violent Behavior
Any staff member or other employee of the school district who obtains or possesses information concerning a student in the building with a history of violent behavior shall immediately report said information to the principal of the building in which the student is enrolled or seeks to enroll.

B. Recipients of Notice
Each classroom teacher of a student with a history of violent behavior will receive notification from the administration prior to placement of the student in the teacher’s classroom.  In addition, notice will be given by the administration to other school staff members who have a legitimate educational interest, as defined in this Policy.

C. Determination of Who Receives Notice
Determination of which school staff members have a legitimate educational interest will be made by (1) the School District’s Responsible Authority appointed by the School Board under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act or (2) the administration.  In the event the administration makes this detailed determination, the Responsible Authority will provide guidance to whoever determines what data will be shared.

School staff members who receive notice under this Policy may provide notice to someone who is substituting and has contact with the student. For example, if a paraprofessional that is absent has received notice, that paraprofessional, the classroom teacher, or the principal could tell the person temporarily replacing the paraprofessional.

D. Form of Staff Notification
The notice given to school staff members may be written or verbal and will include the following:

1. Name of the student;
2. Date of Notice
3. The history of violent behavior as defined in Section II - B of this Policy; and
4. Reminder of the private nature of the data provided.

This notification will result in a meeting.  The meeting will include the following, as appropriate:

1. Explanation of what occurred in each incident of violent behavior, if known, specifically including any mitigating factors;
2. Types of situations that might trigger violent behavior by the student, if known;
3. Successful strategies or interventions, if known; and
4. Documents that the staff member may review to assist understanding of the student (e.g. IEP or § 504 plan).

E. Recording of Meeting
The administration must keep a copy of the notification of meeting to provide a record of those school staff members notified under this section. Retention of the written notice provided to school staff members is governed by the approved Records Retention Schedule.

F. Law Enforcement Reports
The administration must immediately forward to appropriate school staff members those notices related to an incident of violent behavior received from law enforcement pursuant to Minn. Stat. §121A.75.  The law enforcement notice must be followed by the formal written notice set forth above within a reasonable time, not to exceed 10 business days.  All other notices received from law enforcement pursuant to Minn. Stat. §121A.75 must be disseminated as required by that section.  Retention of the law enforcement notice is governed by Minn. Stat. §121A.75, Subd. 2(e).

A. The administration will notify parents annually that the school district gives classroom teachers and other school staff members notice about students’ history of violent behavior.

B. Prior to providing the written notice of a student’s violent behavior to classroom teachers and/or school staff members, the administration will inform the student’s parent or guardian that such notice will be provided.

C. Parents will be given notice that they have the right to review and challenge records or data, including the data documenting the history of violent behavior, in accordance with Policy 511, Protection and Privacy of Pupil Records.

The parties involved may discuss necessary training, which may include training on conflict resolution and positive behavior interventions and may discuss necessary intervention services such as student behavioral assessments.

• Adopted: June 14m 2004
• Amended: March 13, 2006
• Amended: March 9, 2015
• Amended: January 13, 2020
• Last Reviewed: January 13, 2020

• Policy 512 - Staff Notification of Violent Behavior by Students