SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD OF THE

TRANSITIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS

PERSONNEL REGULATION

SECURITY OF PERSONNEL

Child Abuse and / or Neglect Reporting Procedures

Regulation # 4730

Any school official or employee who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, or who observes the child being subjected to abuse or neglect shall immediately report the facts to the school principal or their immediate supervisor.  Whenever possible, employees should be prepared to provide to the following information:

• Name/identification of child.
• Name of parent(s).
• Name of alleged abuser.
• Where the child can be located.
• Names and contact information of any witnesses.
• Whether the child is currently in a life-threatening situation.

The school principal or immediate supervisor shall then be responsible for immediately making an oral report of the suspected abuse/neglect to the Child Abuse Unit of the Missouri Division of Family Services by using the hot line telephone number: 1-800-392-3738.  The building principal will also make the superintendent aware that a report has been made.

Following the telephone report, the principal shall cause a written report to be made to the Division of Family Services on forms provided by the division with a copy to be sent to the superintendent.

The superintendent shall designate an employee to serve as the school district liaison. The liaison shall develop protocol in conjunction with the chief investigator of the St. Louis office of the Missouri Division of Family Services to insure information regarding an investigation is shared with appropriate school personnel.

Investigating Procedures

When a principal receives a report of alleged child abuse and/or neglect allegedly committed by any school employee, the principal shall also immediately file a report with the executive assistant to the superintendent for administration, indicating that the required reports were filed with the Division of Family Services and detailing the facts of the alleged abuse and/or neglect.  The principal shall be responsible for requesting reports concerning the disposition of the abuse report within thirty (30) days of making the report and shall forward the same to the executive assistant to the superintendent. 

In addition, when the Division of Family Services receives a child abuse report alleging that a school employee abused or neglected a student, the report shall be immediately referred to the superintendent, who will conduct an investigation to determine whether the sole purpose of the report is to harass a school employee.  If it is determined that the report is for the sole purpose of harassing an employee, the superintendent will jointly investigate the matter with the juvenile officer or other designated law enforcement official.  Findings and conclusions will be issued as required by law.

All other reports of abuse and/or neglect not involving employees shall be immediately turned over to the Division of Family Services for investigation. 

All information received by the liaison or by the district as a result of an investigation shall be subject to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Legal Refs:      Mo. Rev. Stat. § 210.109

Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 210.110 - 210.165

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 162.700

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g

34 C.F.R. § 99

Regulation approved: June 26, 1990

Revised: December 8, 1998

Revised: July 24, 2001

Revised: September 10, 2002

Revised: October 12, 2004

Revised:  November 19, 2009