Discipline and SESIR - FAQs

The Discipline Code is not reported to the state so what is the purpose of the discipline code (other than to define what the student did to warrant the referral).

The discipline code triggers the SESIR popup and if actions and codes are used it will trigger the subset of actions.

When would the discipline code drive the action code within Focus?

When the Referral Actions and Codes table has been set up and is in use.

If Referral Actions and Codes are setup, how must they relate to the action and code fields on the referral form?

They must be exactly the same.

Many districts refer to a referral as an incident. Focus distinguishes incidents as SESIRs. Can you explain the difference?

Any action that violates the student code of conduct resulting in an office referral is what districts commonly refer to as incidents. Many districts think of the referral as the initial submission and when the office acts on it, it becomes an incident.  The state has a defined set of discipline code violations called SESIRs that MUST be reported. If the code violation is not one that must be reported, it is considered non-SESIR and Focus calls it a referral. If the code violation is a SESIR code and must be reported, Focus considers it an incident.To distinguish which referrals are DOE reported we look for actions that are not coded as “D” – D is local so in referral setup all referrals the districts does not want to state report should have the action code set to D.  These are the allowable codes for discipline actions: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/18496/urlt/1718-114425.pdf

Can you explain the purpose of the Reviewed by Administrator check box?

Portal - once checked, the portal alert “new referrals” goes away or the number of referrals is reduced for Administrators. Teachers receive a portal alert of “Processed Referral” to allow the teachers to view the action on the referral they wrote.
Parent/Student - once checked, this will allow the Parent/Student to view the referral (based on permissions for each field on the referral)
State Reporting - Focus will only pull data from processed referrals. If the reviewed by administrator is not checked, it’s as though the referral does not exist

Which SESIR fields will populate based on information on the referral form?

Involved in Hate Crime         Zero-Tolerance:Expulsion
School-Related Arrest           Involved in Bullying
Use of Alcohol                       Use of Drugs
Weapon Use                          Other’s involved

If a SESIR is entered before the referral, how can the two be linked together?

Once the SESIR code is selected on the referral and the SESIR box pops up, select the tab labeled “Add to Existing SESIR”

What is the intent of the merge referral button? When does this option become unavailable?

If a student receives multiple referrals for the same or similar misconduct, all can be linked together and only 1 discipline action record would have to be entered. This option becomes unavailable once a referral has had an action code added and saved.

What is the intent of the duplicate referral button? What information is duplicated?

If multiple students were engaged in the same infraction, the referral only has to be created once and then can be “copied” for the other involved students. The incident date, description, reporter, and discipline code is duplicated. The action records are not.

The reason the action records don’t duplicate is to provide the administrator discretion in assigning disciplinary action without impacting the audit trail by removing a code and replacing it with another.

Attendance can be added through the referral. When will the attendance added through the referral be recognized on the attendance screen and when will it not transfer?

Current and future attendance will populate the attendance screen. If a current or prior attendance date is changed on the referral, this will not transfer to the attendance screen.

What drives the attendance options on the referral?

Whether the Discipline box is checked on the attendance code setup screen for a specific attendance code