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ADULT SEXUAL MISCONDUCT IN SCHOOLS

Ensuring the safety and well-being of students in K-12 schools is a top priority for schools and school districts nationwide. To achieve these goals, schools need to build their preparedness capacity for a range of adversarial and human-caused threats, one of which is adult sexual misconduct (ASM).

While definitions of ASM vary from state to state, a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) defines ASM as any sexual activity directed to a child with the purpose of developing a romantic or sexual relationship. Behaviors may range from those that are inappropriate to those that are illegal, and they may include verbal conduct, physical conduct, or electronic interactions. ASM can be perpetrated by educators but also by other school personnel, including athletic coaches, administrative staff, bus drivers, or volunteers.

The GAO report estimates that nearly one in 10 students is subjected to ASM during their academic years. The prevalence of ASM indicates that it is a serious threat to America’s students. Child sexual abuse, including ASM in schools, is detrimental to children’s physical, psychological, behavioral, and academic well-being and development. This victimization, whether through a single event or chronic exposure, can result in short-term and/or lifelong negative impacts, such as maladaptive behaviors, mental health disorders, developmental delays, social difficulties, and even a shorter life expectancy.

An important way that schools and school districts can improve their preparedness for ASM is to create an ASM Annex in their emergency operations plan (EOP). By creating an ASM Annex that details comprehensive plans, policies, and procedures for preventing and addressing ASM, schools will be better positioned to thwart perpetrators, respond effectively to reports, prevent aiding and abetting, and help the victim(s) and school community recover when needed. ASM is a cause for concern, but schools and school districts can take actions to protect students from, prevent, mitigate the impacts of, respond to, and recover from ASM.

Aiding and Abetting

One way that schools and school districts can protect students from ASM is by prohibiting aiding and abetting. Aiding and abetting in the context of ASM is the practice of K-12 employers enabling an individual with a known or suspected history of sexual misconduct against children to transfer to schools or obtain new employment without facing consequences. This can happen in many ways, such as through letters of recommendation from former employers that omit information about incidents or allegations of ASM, inadequate hiring practices that don’t include searches on applicants’ certification status or eligibility for employment, policies or agreements that allow for the suppression of information or the expungement of disciplinary records, and more. Aiding and abetting, even unknowingly, puts students at risk of ASM.

There is Federal law in place that seeks to protect students by preventing the aiding and abetting of ASM — Section 8546 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act. ESEA Section 8546 requires state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) that receive ESEA funds to have in place laws, regulations, or policies that prohibit the SEA, LEA, or school (as well as any school employee, contractor, or agent) from providing a recommendation of employment for an employee, contractor, or agent that the SEA, LEA, or school knows, or has probable cause to believe, has engaged in sexual misconduct with a student or minor in violation of the law. Section 8546 is an important provision of ESEA, as it provides guidance to SEAs and LEAs on policies that can be implemented to prevent the aiding and abetting of ASM.

Strategies for Preventing and Addressing ASM

Aside from prohibiting aiding and abetting, schools and school districts can implement many other steps to prevent and address ASM. The following strategies involve creating and reviewing practices, policies, and procedures for preventing and addressing ASM, as well as training stakeholders and practicing the EOP. All of these actions can be outlined in the school’s or school district’s EOP and ASM Annex.

Review hiring practices

The first line of defense in preventing ASM is in a school’s or school district’s screening and hiring processes. While hiring practices vary by state and locality, schools and school districts can consider adopting hiring practices that effectively screen for applicants at risk of posing harm to children. A good first step for schools and school districts to prevent ASM is to review current hiring practices to ensure that there are robust and consistent policies for screening and selection, which include a sequence of actions and an overall timeline, as well as criteria developed that define how screening information will be used to determine an applicant’s suitability. Such practices include, but are not limited to, requiring

Background checks with fingerprinting;
Certification or licensure lookup in state or national databases;
Disclosure statements on employment applications;
Open-ended questions on employment applications that inquire about appropriate conduct with students;
Interview questions about conduct, ethics, boundaries, and/or problem-solving and decision-making in various scenarios;
Thorough reference checks and/or records requests from current and former employers; and
Online public searches.

Schools and school districts should be aware that background checks and reference checks alone are not enough to prevent ASM. These hiring practices should be one part of a comprehensive system involving multiple precautionary and systematic actions. Finally, schools and school districts should consult with the state district attorney to ensure that screening and selection policies do not violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or other Federal or state laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.

Conduct background checks for staff and volunteers

There are many considerations to account for when developing strong background check policies. First, schools and school districts should develop a standard policy for conducting background checks, which include fingerprinting, for all school staff, not just educators. This group includes athletic coaches, custodial and food services staff, and out-of-school-time program staff, among others. Schools and school districts should also conduct background checks for all volunteers, including those who work inside classrooms, such as tutors or classroom assistants, as well as those who have contact with students outside of classrooms, such as field trip chaperones. Schools and school districts should remain vigilant and understand that ASM can be perpetrated by any adult in the school community.

To conduct thorough background checks, schools should depend on both state and Federal sources of criminal data — such as state law enforcement databases, state child abuse registries, the Interstate Identification Index of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Sex Offender Public Website. Additionally, schools can take advantage of state or national licensure and certification database systems, such as the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification Educator Identification Clearinghouse, to determine whether applicants have lost their teaching credentials because of abuse- or ASM-related offenses. If information gathered during the application process reveals that an applicant has moved frequently, searches across the databases of multiple states are recommended, and records should be requested from all former employers. These practices can help schools and school districts avoid unknowingly hiring perpetrators seeking to avoid consequences for their conduct by transferring to a new school in a different state.

The following are considerations for comprehensive background check policies:

Time and financial resources needed to conduct background checks;
Signed consent forms from applicants agreeing to a background check;
Policies on which offenses will require a close examination and which will disqualify applicants (arrest data cannot be used as grounds for disqualification; only offenses resulting in convictions can be used);
Procedures for ensuring that background check information is confidential (e.g., secure storage of records); and
Legal requirements for background checks (a best practice is to consult municipal, state, and national laws and regulations, as well as the district attorney and insurance company, as needed).

While robust background check policies are a critical tool in education hiring practices, schools and school districts should be advised that they are only one part of ASM prevention efforts.

Train the whole school community

Training of school community members is another integral part of ASM preparedness and should reinforce the school’s or school district’s documented policies and procedures; all stakeholders should clearly understand their designated role in the EOP and ASM Annex. Training can help school community members recognize appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in staff-child interactions, identify the warning signs of ASM effects on children, detect patterns of ASM among perpetrators, respond swiftly and appropriately when ASM is suspected, and follow the school’s and school district’s policies for reporting ASM.

Examples of school community members who can be trained in ASM prevention and response include

All school staff;
Volunteers;
Administrators and trainers;
Title IX coordinators;
Parents and caregivers (to help raise awareness of school or school district policies for safeguarding children and recognizing the patterns and signs of ASM); and
Students (training should be tailored to ensure that it is relevant and age-appropriate).

When developing ASM trainings, schools and school districts should carefully consider the content to ensure that it is comprehensive, is tailored to participants, and addresses all relevant topics about ASM (e.g., tactics and behavioral patterns of perpetrators, impacts of ASM on children, online interactions and the role of social media, available reporting mechanisms) and about school district policies and procedures (e.g., codes of conduct, mandatory reporting requirements, false allegations and investigations, consequences for perpetrators). Finally, schools and school districts should consider the frequency with which trainings will be conducted to ensure that staff members are kept up to date on ASM research and policies and that new staff members are appropriately trained, regardless of their start dates.

Create a mechanism or system for reporting potential cases of ASM

While requirements for reporting suspected child abuse vary by state, oftentimes school personnel are considered mandatory reporters, meaning that they are required by state law to report incidents or suspicions of child abuse. In accordance with state laws and in collaboration with a school’s or school district’s general counsel and other appropriate community partners, school districts should create reporting systems that establish a secure method for reports to be made and a clear, documented chain of command and events for instances when a report has been made. For example, Title IX regulations require schools to designate a specific employee for ASM reporting, who will notify the Title IX coordinator of any suspected incidents of ASM. In developing reporting mechanisms, school districts should consider In developing reporting mechanisms, school districts should consider

Developing formal agreements, such as memoranda of understanding (MOUs), with local law enforcement agencies and other community partners to coordinate policies on information sharing as well as guidelines for who will receive reports, how reports will be escalated, how investigations will be conducted, etc.;
Developing reporting policies for ASM that happens in the online setting, such as via social media or text messaging;
Collaborating with the general counsel to establish policies for employees; and
Ensuring that policies meet state-specific requirements (e.g., how soon a report should be made, consequences for not reporting).

Reporting systems can include phone lines, written documentation, or virtual mechanisms such as online forms or text message systems. In creating a reporting mechanism, schools and school districts should also consider whether reports can be made anonymously. Regardless of their form, reporting systems are effective only when school community members are aware of their existence and know how to use them. School personnel should be trained on the role of the reporter (not to investigate or evaluate suspected or reported abuse), what necessitates a report, how to use the reporting systems, and the consequences for not reporting suspected or confirmed instances of abuse. Similarly, parents and students should know how to make reports, as well.

Enforce consequences for ASM perpetrators

Administrators can instill a culture of zero tolerance for ASM. School community members should be made to feel that reports will be taken seriously and that all reports will be escalated through the reporting chain and thoroughly investigated. Beyond preventing ASM, creating safe environments for students will also require schools and school districts to address confirmed instances of ASM. This can start with training — school community members should understand exactly what the consequences are for the variety of behaviors that constitute ASM and how they are enforced. Consequences for perpetrators will likely vary based on the offense — behaviors may range from those that are inappropriate to those that are illegal; instances may be handled through enforcement of Federal or state laws and criminal statutes, the school’s or school district’s code of conduct or ethics, or administrative regulations. Actions against perpetrators should be carried out in collaboration with relevant authorities and may include removing the employee from the school environment to ensure a lack of contact with children while an investigation is conducted, employment termination or nonrenewal of a contract, and/or revocation of the perpetrator’s teaching license or relevant credentials. Relevant criminal and legal consequences vary by state and case details.

Another important aspect of enforcing consequences for ASM perpetrators includes creating policies that prohibit aiding and abetting. Schools and school districts should prohibit the suppression of information (e.g., expunging records, writing letters of recommendation that omit information related to ASM, allowing perpetrators to settle lawsuits without disclosing incidents of ASM) to ensure that perpetrators cannot gain employment at another youth-serving organization. Consequences for perpetrators of ASM should be consistent and maintained long term; enforcing these consequences can protect potential future victims.

Develop an ASM Annex in the EOP

Ideally, each school and school district EOP will contain annexes that outline plans for specific threats and hazards that may impact the school community. Core planning teams can develop an ASM Annex that addresses the five National Preparedness System Mission Areas (prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery) in relation to ASM. To create an ASM Annex, schools and school districts should create goals (broad, general statements that indicate a desired outcome), objectives (specific, measurable actions that are necessary to achieve the goals), and courses of action (specific procedures that are used to accomplish the goals and objectives) for before, during, and after a report of ASM. A comprehensive ASM Annex should

Be carefully created in coordination with the SEA as well as community partners such as local law enforcement and child protective services;
Outline an ASM training program that details training frequency, content, and participants;
Contain a detailed series of actions for responding to reports of ASM that comply with Federal and local laws (for example, in some states there are specific time frames for required ASM reporting);
Establish a chain of command related to ASM reporting procedures and investigations;
Detail procedures for internal investigations and false allegations, and consequences for perpetrators;
Outline ASM-specific recovery procedures to be carried out after a confirmed incident of ASM, including support services for the victim and the whole school community, and refer to the Recovery Annex for general recovery courses of action;
Provide information on actions to be carried out in collaboration with law enforcement (an ASM Annex may contain a copy of an MOU);
Contain details on reporting systems, including how they will be monitored and how reports will be documented;
Document the school’s or school district’s policies for adult-student contact and communication, including actions that occur in all settings (including the online setting and after-school hours) and at all times (e.g., considerations for field trips, extracurricular programs);
Reflect an understanding that, while the whole school community should be trained in ASM prevention, ASM reports and investigations should not be widely publicized and should be shared only with those in the chain of command;
Be practiced through emergency exercises that involve hypothetical cases of ASM; and
Be reviewed, revised, and maintained by the core planning team on an ongoing basis.

Because of the serious and highly sensitive nature of an ASM report, school or school district personnel should proceed in a timely yet calculated manner to respond to and address the issue and ensure student safety. A high-quality, comprehensive ASM Annex that is regularly maintained can contribute to a school’s or school district’s capacity to prevent, protect against, mitigate the impacts of, respond to, and recover from the threat of ASM.