OAR 581-022-2205: Policies on Reporting of Child Abuse

(1) Each school board shall adopt policies applicable to all school district employees, specifying that child abuse by school employees is not tolerated and that all school employees report suspected child abuse to a law enforcement agency, the Department of Human Services or a designee of the department as required by ORS 419B.010 and 419B.015 and report suspected child abuse to the employees’ supervisors or other persons designated by the school board. (2) The policy must: (a) Designate a person to receive reports of suspected child abuse by school employees and specify the procedures to be followed by that person upon receipt of a report; (b) Require the posting in each school building of the name and contact information for the person designated for the school building to receive reports of suspected child abuse by school employees and the procedures the person will follow upon receipt of a report; (c) Specify that the initiation of a report in good faith about suspected child abuse may not adversely affect any terms or conditions of employment or the work environment of the complainant; (d) Specify that the school board or any school employee will not discipline a student for the initiation of a report in good faith about suspected child abuse by a school employee; (e) Require notification by the school district to the person who initiated the report about actions taken by the school district based on the report; (f) Require a written procedure for the reporting of child abuse by school employees in accordance with ORS 339.388; and (g) Require a written procedure for providing annual training for: (A) School employees each school year on the prevention and identification of child abuse and on the obligations of school employees under ORS 419B.005 to 419B.050 and under policies adopted by the school board to report child abuse; (B) Parents and legal guardians of children who attend a school operated by the school board. The training shall be on the prevention and identification of child abuse and on the obligations of school employees under ORS 419B.005 to 419B.050. The training shall be provided separately from the training provided to school employees under paragraph (A) of this subsection. (C) Children who attend a school operated by the education provider. The training shall be designed to prevent child abuse. (3)(a) The school district shall maintain records of each reported incident of child abuse, action taken by the school district and any findings as a result of the report. (b) A supervisor or other person designated by the school board in its policy who receives a report, shall follow the procedures required by the policy adopted by the school board under ORS 339.372 and this rule. (c) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, when a school district receives a report of suspected child abuse by one of its employees, and the school district determines that there is reasonable cause to support the report, the school district shall place the school employee on paid administrative leave until either: (A) The Department of Human Services or a law enforcement agency determines that the report is unfounded or that the report will not be pursued; or (B) The Department of Human Services or a law enforcement agency determines that the report is founded and the school district takes the appropriate disciplinary action against the school employee. (d) If the Department of Human Services or a law enforcement agency is unable to determine, based on a report of suspected child abuse, whether child abuse occurred, an education provider may reinstate a school employee placed on paid administrative leave under paragraph (c) of this subsection or may take the appropriate disciplinary action against the employee. (e)(A) Upon request from a law enforcement agency, the Department of Human Services or the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, a school district shall provide the records of investigations of suspected child abuse by a school employee or former school employee. (B) The disciplinary records of a school employee or former school employee convicted of a crime listed in ORS 342.143 are not exempt from disclosure under 192.501 or 192.502. If a school employee is convicted of a crime listed in 342.143, the school district that is the employer of the employee shall disclose the disciplinary records of the employee to any person upon request. If a former school employee is convicted of a crime listed in 342.143, the education provider that was the employer of the former employee when the crime was committed shall disclose the disciplinary records of the former employee to any person upon request. (C) Prior to disclosure of a disciplinary record under this paragraph, the school district shall remove any personally identifiable information from the record that would disclose the identity of a child, a crime victim or a school employee or former school employee who is not the subject of the disciplinary record.