Introduction - Page 1  Page 2  Page 3

When a serious crime or violent act occurs at your school, you’ll need to determine whether it qualifies as a SESIR event and, if so, what type or category of incident. Per Rule 6A-1.0017, in order to determine whether an incident must be reported in SESIR, the following criteria must be met:

• The incident meets one of the SESIR incident definitions.
• The incident occurred on a K-12 school campus, on school-sponsored transportation, during off-campus school-sponsored activities, or off campus where the incident is accomplished through electronic means, if the incident substantially disrupts the educational process or orderly operation of a school.

SESIR incidents that meet the requirements above must be reported regardless of whether:

• The incident was carried out by a student, a person other than a student, school personnel, or where the person who carried out the incident is unknown;
• The victim of the incident is a student, a person other than a student, or where the victim is unknown;
• The incident occurred when school was in session or not. SESIR incidents occur 365 days a year at any time of the day or night;
• Disciplinary action is taken by the school district;
• Law enforcement action is taken by an SRO or other law enforcement officer or agency;
• The offender has the capacity to understand his or her behavior and the inappropriateness of his or her actions. However, where the offender is a student, school districts may take age, development, and disability into account when determining appropriate discipline; or
• Criminal charges are filed by law enforcement. However, where criminal charges are issued, school districts should review to determine whether the type of incident reported should be modified.
   

Rank Order Level:  Each SESIR incident is ranked from I to IV, based on its level of seriousness, with Level I being the most serious and Level IV the least serious. Rank order levels are used primarily when more than one offense occurs as part of an event. In this case, the general rule is to report the offense with the most serious rank order level. For example, students may have broken into the school, then intentionally set a fire. Breaking into the school with the intent to commit a crime constitutes Breaking and Entering/Burglary, a rank order level II SESIR incident. Intentionally setting a fire is arson, a rank order level I SESIR incident. For SESIR, arson would be the incident reported due to its higher rank order level. Notes about the breaking and entering may be entered into your reporting software to further describe the event, as necessary. 

However, some judgment is important in determining which of multiple simultaneous incidents to report. Some considerations that go beyond the general rule are:

1. Report the incident that causes the most injury or the highest loss of property or monetary cost. 
2. Consider the context of the incidents to determine the level of seriousness. If you determine that an incident with the less serious rank order level is indeed the more serious offense in a particular situation, then report that incident. 

 
For example, students may have broken into the school to destroy some school property (i.e., Criminal Mischief, if the damage is over $1000). Criminal Mischief is a rank order level III SESIR incident. Since they entered the school unlawfully and with the intent to damage property, they also committed Burglary, a rank order level II SESIR incident. The general rule would indicate that the Burglary (rank order level II) is reported to SESIR and the Criminal Mischief is documented in the notes. However, in your judgment, based on the monetary value, students involved, and other factors related to the offense, you may decide to report the Criminal Mischief. 
 

SESIR Definition:  Each incident is operationally defined. It is important to follow the SESIR definitions to classify an incident. Districts may only code an incident as a locally-defined incident if it does not meet one of the SESIR incident categories. Incidents that meet one of the SESIR definitions and that occur on a K-12 school campus, on school-sponsored transportation, during off-campus school-sponsored activities, or off campus where the incident is accomplished through electronic means, if the incident substantially disrupts the educational process or orderly operation of a school, must be reported regardless of whether law enforcement action is taken or whether a student is disciplined.


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