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Discipline Length

Discipline Length: Discipline

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The Discipline Length data element refers to the number of school days during which a student is removed for a school term, incident, and disciplinary action.

Current as of the 2023-24 School Year:

The Actual Discipline Action Length will allow for four (4) digits to the left of the decimal. This allows for more accurate reporting from the previous three (3) digit maximum, which often resulted in 999.0 days reported.

Count the number of school days as follows:

 

If the Discipline Action is an Expulsion or Out-of-School Suspension 

  • Count days removed from the school's grounds for disciplinary purposes as a result of the expulsion or out-of-school suspension.
  • The School Days Removed value should include days during which the student is receiving services in an alternative setting off-school grounds or at an alternative school.

If the Discipline Action is an In-School Suspension or Placement in IAES 

  • Count days the student is removed from his/her educational placement, e.g., the student's regular classroom, for disciplinary purposes.

How to Count Discipline Length:

  • The Discipline Length value, for all discipline actions, should be submitted in half-day increments.
  • Do not count removals (suspensions or IAES discipline actions) for less than half of a school day.
  • Do not round up to 0.5 for removals that are less than half a school day.
  • For any removal of half of a school day in length or longer, round up to the nearest half-day increment.
    • EXAMPLES: 
    • Removals of 1/3 day would not be counted
    • Removals of 2/3 day would round up to 1.0,
    • Removals of 1.2 days would round up to 1.5 days, etc. 
  • Under rare circumstances, zero may be valid for an expulsion. Expulsions may have length of 0 or greater. 

Discipline Length is Counted Based on the Student's Scheduled School Day:

For students with nonstandard school schedules (i.e., student attends school for a half-day), counting of days removed for discipline purposes will be different from counting days for attendance purposes. This is because counting of actual and possible days of attendance is based on the district's standard full school day.

USES: This data element is critical in tracking students' total discipline action lengths.

FAQs, Details, and Point to Note

  1. Zero Days Removed: Under rare circumstances, zero days removed may be valid for an expulsion.

    1. EXAMPLE: A decision is made to suspend a student prior to an expulsion hearing. The expulsion order is issued after the student has met early reinstatement conditions. So the student is removed for the suspension, but is not be removed for the expulsion.

    2. EXAMPLE: An incident that occurs near the end of school term X, but the expulsion order is not issued until after the end of school term X. Consequently, the discipline length for school term X, as a result of the timing of this expulsion, is zero.

  2. Student With Nonstandard Schedule: For students with nonstandard school schedules, counting of days removed for discipline purposes will be different from counting days for attendance purposes. Discipline length is counted based on the individual student’s regular day, not a standard/‘regular’ school day in the district. Discipline length rounds up for removals over a half day. Review the data element for discipline length for more information.

    1. EXAMPLE: Jan is a student who attends school for half-days, each week day. Jan broke a school rule that resulted in an out-of-school suspension for three days. The discipline length for Jan’s suspension would be entered as 1.5 days, since Jan’s ‘regular’ day is 0.5, so the total of Jan’s three half-days is 1.5 standard school days.

  3. Summer School Discipline: Discipline information for this student should not be submitted to WISEdata. This student is removed zero days from the school year for a suspension, so no incident or action is submitted. Note, if the discipline action was an expulsion, then this incident-action pair would be submitted.

  4. Discipline FAQs & Use Cases: For more specific information, see the Discipline: Info, Help and FAQs page.

  5. DOC, DHS, PPP: No discipline information should be submitted for students in a Department of Corrections or Department of Health Services school or enrolled as a parentally-placed private student.

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