parent or caregiver, or an ignorance that reporting is mandatory. There’s also a fear that the parent or perpetrator will figure out who made the report. The responsibility for reporting can’t be delegated. Everyone who suspects the maltreatment is mandated to report, which can be accomplished by everyone signing a single fax. In one case involving an Arkansas school district, a second grade female teacher discovered a handwritten letter by a student saying she had been touched inappropriately by her mother’s father and asking for help. The assistant principal was present in the classroom where the note was found. The principal was informed, and the assistant principal was told to handle it. The student was sent home with her grandmother because she had been suspended from school for fighting earlier that day. The assistant principal asked the grandmother about the letter, and she said the abuse had occurred years earlier, but the student had been
removed from the home. Later that day, the principal and assistant principal discussed the issue, and the principal told her to file the letter in the school nurse’s file. A few weeks later, the school nurse found the letter on a counter in the medicine closet. She asked if anyone had called the hotline, and when she realized no one had, she did it herself. While the nurse complied with the law, the others did not. The school board terminated the principal’s contract. She sued the board and lost, and appealed and lost. Reporting suspected maltreatment can change the trajectory of a child’s life. Denniston told a story of a deliveryman who heard a child crying behind a padlocked door and called the police. The police found a four-year-old girl with a diaper and bottle. She was covered in feces because she was in there with the dog. She had been locked away and had never learned to speak. She was placed in foster care and began receiving
therapy. Despite her late start in language development, she graduated with top honors in high school and now is a college student. Professional relationship required In another session, participants were told that teachers are required to maintain a professional relationship with students inside and outside of the classroom. Attorney Mary Carole Young with Munson, Rowlett, Moore & Boone said the Code of Ethics for Arkansas educators approved by the State Board of Education in 2008 established that minimum standard and removed the gray areas that previously existed. Even if a teacher’s actions aren’t criminal, a violation of that standard can lead to termination. Young estimated that her law firm has performed 200 investigations for school districts. Out of the 200, all but
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