Stephen C. Satterly, II – Author

By Stephen Satterly, II, researcher, author, and expert witness in school safety

Previous posts have covered the origins of the standard of care for addressing educator sexual misconduct, the standard of care in creating policies to address it, and the standard of care in mitigating it. There is a standard of care in responding to educator sexual misconduct. When an educator engages in behaviors within the “gray area” that may be illegal, all the planning, policies, and training are put to the test. At stake is the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of the alleged victim.

What Should be Reported

The response phase begins with harmful or inappropriate behavior, violations of any school board policy regarding educator sexual misconduct, or evidence or allegations of educator sexual misconduct. The primary focus should be on the child’s health and well-being. A child who has been traumatized does not need to be traumatized again by not being believed, or made to feel any negative feelings for coming forward, or for being subjected to the illicit behavior.

Therefore, the training for school staff should center on one very important aspect, often explicit in state law. It is not the role of the school or any of its employees to evaluate or investigate any allegation or suspicious behavior.

After an alleged incident of peer-to-peer sexual abuse aboard a school bus in Indiana, a school administrator notified an SRO, who notified the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS). The Principal of the affected school told the reporting school administrator, “I wish you had called me first, so I could have made sure this was worthy of reporting.” This would have violated Indiana Code and the local board policies, which clearly stated that no investigation was to be conducted by the school.

DCS has investigators who are specifically trained in therapeutic interviewing techniques that can help the child provide answers to questions without causing further trauma to the child. A thorough planning team would help set forth, in policy, the school’s role in these situations: to support the children’s parents. Parents will have received training on the school’s policies, and will know that the role of DCS is to verify the veracity of the allegation, and to clear students of false allegations. Any actions taken by the school could not only harm the child but also interfere with the lawful investigative process, which could itself be a crime.

The Push-Pull of Child Sex Abuse

Throughout this process, there is always an undercurrent of the balance between over-reacting and under-reacting. This emphasizes the importance of having good policies in place to outline, with specificity, what constitutes educator sexual misconduct, and what the school thinks about behaviors in the “gray areas.” These policies should also delineate which behaviors will trigger an internal response and which will require reporting.

If an adult violates a policy, the school must take action, even if sexual abuse is not suspected. The consequences of this violation should be spelled out in the policy and addressed immediately. But, a report should be made the moment abuse is suspected. This report should be made regardless of the source of the abuse, whether it is an employee/volunteer, a peer, or someone outside of the school.

How to Report

Like other aspects of educator sexual misconduct, the methods used to report it should be put forth in policy, then practiced in training. The almost overwhelming urge for school employees is to go tell the school Principal before making a report. There is also an urge on the Principal’s part to be the one to make the report and “take care of it” for the employee. This can create civil and perhaps criminal liability for that employee and the school. The policies should be clear, and the training should emphasize what this process looks like. Employees and volunteers should also be clear about who the report should be made to and how quickly it needs to be submitted.

It is important for the school district to maintain internal records of all complaints, suspicions, and allegations, as well as their outcomes. The district should have someone who regularly reviews these records to assess the district’s procedures. They can then recommend improvements to the procedures and strengthen the program.

Public Information Officer

As with any other emergency, the school should be prepared to deal with the media. The district should identify a person to address the media. In the Incident Command System, this person is referred to as the Public Information Officer (PIO).

The school district should have addressed confidentiality issues in its policies. This allows the PIO to know what information can, and can’t, be given to the media. The district should consider withholding the names of the victim, the alleged perpetrator, and the reporter. The district should ensure that the PIO has received training on fulfilling that function.

Suspension/Employment of Alleged Perpetrators

The school district will need to know in advance how it will handle employees who are alleged to have engaged in misconduct. An allegation does not equate to guilt. Will they be suspended, pending the investigation?

The CDC recommends suspending employment immediately after reporting the suspected child sexual abuse or putting the alleged offender on probation until the case is resolved legally. This should be covered in your policies. The district should have an appeal process that allows people found not guilty of perpetration in court to apply to return to their former positions in the organization.

Additional Considerations

The district should consider how it can support victims and their families in their trauma. What resources can the local community provide? Consider reimbursing victims and families for counseling.

Don’t forget the community as a whole. With confidentiality in mind, transparency and openness are needed. Provide support groups and public forums to answer the questions that can be answered. Staff should be trained on how to talk about child sex abuse with their students. Provide psychological first aid to reporters and/or bystanders.

Schools have put the work into planning for these incidents and have trained their staff to respond appropriately. They should properly debrief after an incident, document lessons learned, and make policy changes as appropriate. Remember that the schools are part of a larger community. Proper planning, training, and support for all involved is the best way to prepare for these awful incidents.