February 7, 2007

TO:                Chief School Administrators/Charter School Lead Persons

FROM:           Lucille E. Davy, Commissioner

SUBJECT:      Public Access to Reports on the Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System

I am pleased to announce that the public may now view selected data from the department’s Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (EVVRS).  Only data from 2002-03 through 2005-06 will be accessible; data from the current year, 2006-07 will not be available to the public until the fall of 2006 after the data on the annual district report have been verified by each district. 

Reports on statewide trends, the Annual District Report, summary offender and victim information, and summary incident data by district and school are available to the public at https://homeroom2.state.nj.us/DOE_EVVRS/jsp/login.jsp.  District personnel with EVVRS accounts will continue to have access to all reports through the Main Menu of the EVVRS.

Funded through the New Jersey Department of Education’s Grant to Improve Drug and Violence Prevention Program Planning and Management awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, this new web-site will enable the public to see the types of violence, vandalism, weapons and substance abuse incidents that are occurring in schools, where they occur, and how many offenders and victims are involved.  The data on the site provides the public with easy access to the incidents of violence and vandalism reported by our school districts.  Like access to the School Report Card, access by the public to violence and vandalism data will foster greater transparency of school operations and more informed dialogue between schools and their communities as they identify and address issues of student conduct.

Please let your community know about this new source of information on New Jersey schools.  If you have any questions about the new web-site, or about the EVVRS, please e-mail us at EVVRS@doe.state.nj.us.  Thank you.

LED/BG
Members, State Board of Education                Donna Arons
Isaac Bryant                                                  Susan Martz
Senior Staff                                                   LEE Group
Barbara Gantwerk                                          Garden State Coalition of Schools
Kathryn Forsyth                                             County Superintendents