> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.deandesk.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Disciplinary records

> Report student incidents, manage cases through a review workflow, contact parents, and keep a complete audit history.

<Info>
  **School-level feature** — managed within your school portal at `yourschool.deandesk.com`.
</Info>

Disciplinary records give your school a structured way to document student incidents. Teachers report incidents, administrators review them, record decisions and consequences, and contact parents — all with a permanent audit trail on every case.

Only admins and teachers can access disciplinary records. Students and parents cannot see records in the portal; parents are informed by email when an administrator chooses to contact them.

## Enabling the feature

Disciplinary records are turned off by default. An administrator enables them in school settings:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open School Configuration">
    Go to **Admin Dashboard → School Configuration** and open the **Features** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn on disciplinary records">
    In the **Disciplinary Records** card, switch on **Enable disciplinary records**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Save your configuration. The disciplinary workspace becomes available from the admin and teacher dashboards.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Once enabled:

* Admins see **Disciplinary Records** under the **Operations** section of the Admin Dashboard sidebar.
* Teachers see a **Report Incident** quick link on their Teacher Dashboard.

See [School configuration](/setup/school-settings) for the other feature toggles on this tab.

## Reporting an incident

Both teachers and admins can report incidents. Click **Report incident** to open the **Report an incident** dialog.

| Field                            | Required | Notes                                                |
| -------------------------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Student**                      | Yes      | Search by student name; results show grade and email |
| **Incident title**               | Yes      | A brief, factual summary                             |
| **Date and time**                | Yes      | When the incident occurred                           |
| **Location**                     | Yes      | Classroom, hallway, field trip, etc.                 |
| **Category**                     | Yes      | See categories below                                 |
| **Severity**                     | No       | Defaults to **Moderate**                             |
| **Incident description**         | Yes      | Use objective, observable details                    |
| **Witnesses or others involved** | No       | Free text                                            |
| **Immediate action taken**       | No       | Anything already done at the time                    |

Click **Submit incident** to save. Each record receives a reference number (for example `DR-2026-A1B2C3`) that appears on the case and in searches.

### Categories

Every incident is filed under one of nine categories:

**Behavior**, **Bullying or harassment**, **Attendance**, **Academic integrity**, **Safety**, **Technology**, **Property**, **Substance-related**, or **Other**.

### Severities

Incidents carry one of four severity levels: **Low**, **Moderate**, **High**, or **Critical**.

## The status workflow

Every record moves through a status lifecycle. New incidents start as **Reported**.

| Status               | Meaning                                                |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Reported**         | The incident has been submitted and is awaiting review |
| **Under review**     | An administrator is investigating                      |
| **Parent contacted** | The family has been informed                           |
| **Resolved**         | The case is closed with a decision                     |
| **Dismissed**        | The case is closed without action                      |

Only administrators can change a record's status. Open a record, choose a new **Status** in the **Administrative decision** section, and click **Save decision**.

<Note>
  Sending a parent email from a record does not change its status automatically. Update the status to **Parent contacted** yourself once you have reached the family.
</Note>

## Admin and teacher views

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Admin">
    Admins open **Admin Dashboard → Operations → Disciplinary Records** and see **Incident records** — every record in the school. The workspace includes:

    * A search box covering student names, reference numbers, incident titles, descriptions, and locations
    * Quick status filter buttons plus **Status** and **Category** dropdown filters
    * A sortable table showing student, incident, date and location, severity, status, and reference number

    Admins can open any record, edit the administrative decision, change the status, and email parents.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Teacher">
    Teachers open **Report Incident** from the Teacher Dashboard and see **My submitted incidents** — only the incidents they reported themselves. Teachers can:

    * Report new incidents
    * Search their own submissions
    * Open a record to view its details and audit trail

    Teachers cannot change a record's status or edit the administrative decision. If an administrator has recorded notes or a consequence, the teacher sees them read-only on the record.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Recording a decision

Administrators document their handling of a case in the **Administrative decision** section of the record:

* **Status** — move the case through the workflow
* **Administrator notes** — internal notes about the investigation
* **Consequence or decision** — the outcome (detention, warning, no action, etc.)
* **Reason for this update** — optional context that is saved into the audit trail

Click **Save decision** to apply the changes. Every save is captured in the audit trail.

## Emailing parents

From a record, an administrator can click **Email parents** to open the **Email parents or guardians** dialog. The subject and message are pre-filled with a neutral follow-up template you can edit before sending.

* The email goes to every parent or guardian linked to the student who has an email address on file.
* Recipients are hidden from one another.
* The record logs the contact date and adds a **Parent or guardian emailed** entry to the audit trail.

If no parent email addresses are linked to the student, DeanDesk tells you and nothing is sent.

## The audit trail

Every record keeps a chronological audit trail that cannot be edited or deleted. Entries include:

* **Incident reported** — when the record was created and by whom
* **Status changed** — from which status to which, with the acting administrator
* **Parent or guardian emailed** — each parent contact, with the email subject
* **Record updated** — which fields changed

Each entry shows who performed the action and when, plus any note the administrator added.

## Including records in student reports

Disciplinary records can appear in generated student reports. In the report template designer, enable the **Disciplinary records** field on a template. When you generate reports with that template, each student's report includes all of their disciplinary records — academic scope filters only limit course data, not disciplinary history.

See [Student reports](/reports/student-reports) for how report templates work.