GNO Choice

1
Educator/Student Relationships
Michelle MurphyAlexander Halpern LLC 1426 Pearl
Street, Suite 420 Boulder, Colorado
80302 303-449-6180
2
Objective

• Enable school district employees to identify and
  respond to incidents of educator sexual
  misconduct.
• Provide an awareness as to those behaviors which
  increase an educators risk of exposure to claims
  of misconduct, including appropriate use of the
  internet, email and text messaging.

3
Educator Sexual Misconduct A Synthesis of
Existing Literature

• 2004 Report Issued by the
• U.S. Department of Education
• http//www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconduc
  treview/report.pdf

4
Percent of Students In Grades 8 to 11 Who Have
Experienced Educator Sexual Misconduct

• 9.6 reported contact and/or noncontact educator
  sexual misconduct that was unwanted
• 8.7 reported only noncontact misconduct
• 6.7 reported only contact misconduct (some
  reported both types)

5
Percent of Student Targets by Job Title of
Offender

• Teacher-18
• Coach-15
• Substitute Teacher-13
• Bus Driver-12
• Teachers Aide-11
• Other School Employee-10
• Security Guard-10
• Principal-6
• Counselor-5

6
Sex of the Offender

• 57.2 of the time the offender was male
• 42.8 of the time the offender was female

7
Sex of the Student

• 56 of the time the student was female
• 44 of the time the student was male

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Which Students Are Most Likely To Be Selected?

• Students estranged from their parents
• Students who are unsure of themselves
• Student who engage in risky behavior
• Students whose parents are engaged in risky
  behavior
• Students who are more likely to maintain silence

9
Inappropriate Relationships Do Not Happen All of
A Sudden!

• Develop over a period of time
• With some students it might be over a brief
  period of time
• Other students take more grooming

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Grooming of A Student

• Process where an abuser
• selects a student, gives the student attention
  and rewards, provides the student with support
  and understanding
• while at the same time slowly increasing the
  amount of personal closeness through increased
  communication (text-messaging, telephone calls,
  MySpace/Facebook), touch and eventually sexual
  behavior

11
Grooming of A Student

• Purpose is to
• Test the childs reaction to such behavior
• Increase the level of familiarity
• Gain approval from parents
• Determine the childs ability to maintain secrecy
• Desensitize the child through progressive sexual
  behaviors
• Learn information that will discredit the child

12
Difficult to Determine

• Activity takes place in private
• If the Student doesnt want the relationship,
  he/she might not report it because
• Student does not want to get anyone in trouble
• Student just wants the conduct to stop
• Student doesnt think anyone will believe him/her
  
• Who will believe a student over a 20-year
  employee?

13
Difficult to Determine

• The most problematic situation of all
• Student is not upset by the relationship

14
Notice of Educator Sexual Misconduct

• Formal complaints
• Informal complaints
• Observed suspicious behaviors
• Rumors and/or anonymous reports

15
Watch for Red Flags

• Dont wait until you have absolute proof (very
  seldom do you know absolutely)
• Watch for conduct that is not indicative of a
  professional teacher/student relationship
• While not all educator misconduct involves a
  sexual relationship, inappropriate relationships
  that could lead to further involvement must not
  be permitted

16
Watch for Red Flags

• Change in students behavior
• Inappropriate sexual behavior, late arrivals to
  class, changes in personality, increased time
  with one school employee
• Rumors about a student and a teacher
• Behavior of the adult
• Close personal relationships with students, time
  alone with students, time before and after school
  with students, time in private spaces with
  students, flirtatious behavior with students,
  off-color remarks in class
• Text-messaging with students, participation in
  MySpace/Facebook with students

17
Watch for Red Flags

• Behavior becomes apparent after misconduct is
  revealed
• There will be many missed opportunities
  because
• People are not sure about the conduct they
  observed
• People dont want to wrongly accuse someone for
  fear of a lawsuit
• People dont want to become involved

18
Duty to Report Sexual Involvement Between School
Employee and Student

• Colo. Rev. Stat. 19-3-304 School district
  employees and officials who have reasonable cause
  to know or suspect that a child is being
  subjected to abuse or neglect shall immediately
  report or cause a report to be made of such fact
  to the county department of social services or
  local law enforcement. Abuse includes unlawful
  sexual behavior.

19
Duty to Report Sexual Involvement Between School
Employee and Student

• Colo. Rev. Stat. 22-32-109.7 If an employee of
  a school district is dismissed or resigns as a
  result of an allegation of unlawful behavior
  involving a child, including unlawful sexual
  behavior, which is supported by a preponderance
  of the evidence, within then business days after
  the dismissal or resignation, the board of
  education shall notify the department of
  education. A public school or charter school
  shall not enter into a settlement agreement that
  would restrict the school from sharing any
  relevant information related to the crime with
  the department, another school district or
  charter school pertaining to the incident upon
  which the dismissal or resignation is based.

20
District Liability

• A student may recover from a school district for
  sexual harassment by an employee only of the
  student can establish that an appropriate person
  had actual notice of and was deliberately
  indifferent to the misconduct.

21
Actual Notice

• Must be reported to a person with authority to
  take corrective action.
• Notice as to harassment of other students may
  provide the requisite notice.
• Requires more than a simple report of
  inappropriate conduct.
• Schools must have actual notice of a substantial
  risk of abuse to students.
• Prior instances need not be clearly credible
  because at some point a supervisory official
  knows that an employee poses a substantial risk.

22
Deliberate Indifference

• District will be liable where response is
  clearly unreasonable in light of the
  circumstances.
• Must take timely and reasonable measures to end
  the harassment.
• Liability has been imposed where (i) Districts
  fail to investigate and/or inform law enforcement
  or students parents (ii) fails to discipline
  offender and/or (iii) fails to take additional
  steps if harassment continues.
• Not required to take any particular disciplinary
  action
• Victims do not have the right to seek particular
  remedial demands.

23
How Does A School District Protect Itself?

• Have a policy that addresses sexual harassment
  (student-on-student, employee-on-student,
  employee-on-employee) and establishes procedures
  for one to follow if subjected to sexual
  harassment
• Designate an employee to coordinate the schools
  responsibilities
• Provide staff in-service
• Orientation for all students
• Copy of policies and procedures given to all
  students and employees

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How Does A School District Protect Itself?

• Assurance that students who make complaints or
  provide information will be protected against
  retaliation
• Assurance that the school will protect the
  confidentiality of harassment complaints to the
  extent possible
• Assurance that the school will take immediate and
  appropriate corrective action when it determines
  that harassment has occurred

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Preventing Sexual Harassment in Schools

• Never use sexually explicit language or tell
  sexually explicit/off color jokes in the presence
  of students.
• Never display sexually explicit or pornographic
  pictures/materials on school property and never
  show such materials to students.
• Avoid engaging in excessively personal
  conversations, both in person and on the phone,
  with students.

26
Preventing Sexual Harassment in Schools

• Avoid sending personal letters, cards or gifts to
  students and dont engage in text-messaging or
  MySpace/Facebook communication with students.
• Avoid commenting on the physical appearance,
  including manner of dress and specific physical
  attributes of students. Educators should always
  dress professionally.
• Avoid to the greatest extent possible physical
  contact with or touching of students.

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Preventing Sexual Harassment in Schools

• Avoid giving students rides home alone or even in
  groups where eventually only one student will
  remain in the car alone with the adult.
• Avoid off-school property, one-on-one meetings
  alone with students, especially in the home of
  the student or the adult.

28
Preventing Sexual Harassment in Schools

• Never plan or take unchaperoned overnight school
  trips with students and, on properly chaperoned
  trips, exercise the highest degree of caution and
  propriety regarding interaction with students.
• Never date students under any circumstances.
  Issues of power differential, consent and
  credibility make such relationships untenable
  within any level of educational institution.

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Claim of Harassment

• Promptly investigate
• Take immediate and appropriate corrective action

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• QA