By Carol Chmelynski
7/13/04 -- All states require teachers to report suspicions of child abuse, but a growing number require teachers to be trained to detect child abuse and neglect as a prerequisite for receiving or renewing a teaching license.
Such laws will take effect this summer in Virginia and Washington state. Delaware, Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio already require teacher training on child abuse.
According to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly every state levies a penalty -- ranging from a fine to a jail sentence -- against educators who should have known that a student had been abused by a parent, teacher, or other person and failed to report it.
"Until recently most states did not strictly enforce these penalties. This has changed within the last few years," the ACF reports.
State officials in Virginia say they hope the new training will help teachers gain confidence in reporting their suspicions to social workers who are responsible for assessing a case.
"In all states, regardless of whether they have the law or not, the training of teachers to be able to recognize child abuse and what they're supposed to do once they see it, is extremely important and can do a lot to protect school districts from liability," says NSBA Senior Staff Attorney Naomi Gittins.
"In those states where they actually have the training requirement on the books," she says, "it's going to be much harder for a school district that doesn't meet that requirement to defend itself if a child were to be abused and a teacher saw it and did nothing about it."
Teacher responsibility
It's not only children abused at home that educators must watch out for. A June 30 report released by the U.S. Education Department finds that nearly one in 10 children in grades K-12 are subjected to some degree of "sexual misconduct" by a school employee.
However, the report, by Charol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University's School of Education, defines "sexual misconduct" broadly to include inappropriate comments and gestures, as well as physical abuse.
The highly publicized death of New York City first-grader Lisa Steinberg in 1987 focused attention on this issue. After she was murdered by her father, the New York City board of education released a report stating that eight of her teachers at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village had suspected she was being abused but failed to report it to authorities for fear they would be sued.
That incident propelled the school board to develop an array of programs to ensure that every teacher and district employee knows how to recognize and report abuse.
Every New York City school now has a "designated reporter" who serves as a liaison on child protective matters and professional development, says Joshua Marquez, the district's coordinator of child abuse and neglect prevention programs.
After an allegation has been made to the State Central Register, all child abuse cases are entered into an online tracking system to allow for intervention or coordination of services, Marquez says.
Materials on personal safety, sexual harassment, and violence prevention are distributed to teachers, students, and parents. Also, Marquez adds, "school personnel have been trained and given resources on student-to-student sexual harassment, sexual misconduct by school officials, and other school-related crimes."
In 1997, the district published a preK-12 abuse prevention curriculum, called Seasons of Peace. The program uses interactive lessons to teach students to resist and find help in dealing with child abuse and neglect, abduction, domestic violence, and relationship abuse, says Betty Rothbart, district administrator of prevention and intervention services.
According to spokesperson Margie Feinberg, the New York City school system reported 178 incidents of child abuse to the state in the 2003-04 school year.
Despite more attention on the need for educators to be aware, children continue to slip through the cracks.
A relative of Joella Reeves, says the sixth grader might still be alive if officials at Eagle Landing Middle School in McDonough, Ga., had acted properly in reporting suspicions of child abuse.
After Reeves was found dead at her home last December, police charged her father and stepmother with beating and starving her.
The Henry County school district conducted its own internal investigation, says Cindy Foster, district spokesperson. The school board fired a counselor and school nurse, and a school social worker resigned.
"Of course, we regret that this happened. We would never want any of our children to be found in this sort of situation ever," Foster says "We have been conducting annual training on recognizing signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect for as long I as know."
The police filed charges against a physician, school nurse, and counselor, as well as the girl's father and stepmother, but these cases have not yet come to trial, says Foster. "The school district as a whole has not been charged," she says.
The girl's uncle, Jeffrey Carter, calls the district's actions a "slap on the wrist," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He also considers a Georgia law too soft on those who fail to report suspected abuse to the Department of Family and Children's Services. Violators face a misdemeanor charge with penalties of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Most states consider failure to report child abuse a misdemeanor, but the level of misdemeanor and penalties vary from state to state.
According to information from the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, convicted violators in West Virginia can face up to 10 days in jail and a $100 fine. In Connecticut, it's a $500 fine and court-ordered participation in a training program.
School district liability
On June 3, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that school districts can be held liable for failing to report suspected child abuse.
The issue arose in 1997 when the Mansfield City (Ohio) School District failed to alert authorities of a suspected sex abuse situation involving a 15-year-old girl and a teacher. School officials investigated the matter internally rather than contacting police. The girl later recanted and was expelled.
In 2000, another student accused the same teacher of sexual misconduct. This time, the district reported the case to the proper authorities. But the high court ruled that the second girl's parents can sue the Mansfield school board for previous inaction against the employee.
"For failing to report that first incident of child abuse, the school district may be liable to another student because she was, in effect, harmed by their failure to take care of the problem the first time around," says Rick Dickinson, general counsel of the Ohio School Boards Association.
But, he says, "we won't know that until the lower court, where the case was remanded, determines if the first incident actually did occur."
He advises districts that conducting their own investigation might not be enough. "If you get a report of suspected child abuse that raises any level of suspicion, turn it over to children's services," he says.
Failure to report
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled last July that the 2,000-student Elmwood Park school district was negligent in ignoring evidence of a principal's questionable behavior and failure to establish a process for employees to report their suspicions of child abuse.
In a civil suit, several teachers and school nurses testified they had seen the principal rubbing up against students but said they did not know how to report their suspicions. Employees also said the school board did nothing when the principal papered over the window in his office.
New Jersey law requires school officials and employees to report suspected abuse to the Department of Youth and Family Services, but no one in Elmwood Park did. Finally, the police -- acting on a parent's complaint -- arrested the principal, who eventually served four years in prison.
According to the school district's attorney, Matthew De Maria, $776,250 was awarded to the affected families. However, the matter is still under appeal, and the amounts to be paid by the board and principal have not been determined.
Superintendent Joseph Casapulla, who did not hold that position when the incidents occurred and the case was tried, says the district now conducts periodic in-service workshops to ensure that all school personnel know what to do if they suspect abuse.
He also visits schools as often as possible and meets with principals, other staff, and students to get a sense of whether everything is in order. "It's a difficult situation but everyone has to be on guard against this kind of thing for obvious reasons," he says.
According to the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, government agencies receive 50,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect every week.
"Teachers have daily contact with their students and are in a key position to recognize indicators of child maltreatment," the clearinghouse states. "A teacher's report "most likely will be the action that can make a difference."