1. A Look at Educator misconduct
April 05, 2019
| Patrick J. Amice | Tom Ciano

2. K-12 Educator-on-student sexual misconduct
The Study
K-12 Educator-on-student sexual misconduct
Claims received from 2011 to 2016
45 claims involving more than 60 victims

3. 40% of the claims studied resulted in losses
Losses totaled $6.2 million
Average claim cost $343,000

4. Misconduct Defined
Sexual assault is a range of misconduct that includes nonconsensual sexual touching and nonconsensual sexual intercourse.
Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that does not involve physical contact, but includes sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or nonverbal conduct.
Boundary crossing occurs when an educator’s behavior toward a student crosses commonly held standards of propriety, but may not violate a school code of conduct or any laws.
Electronic harassment is unwelcome sexual communication by electronic means

5. Perpetrators 85% of perpetrators were male
61% of perpetrators were teachers, and 24% were coaches
Administrators and contractors comprised the remaining 15% of perpetrators
1/3 of the perpetrators had multiple victims

6. Perpetrator’s Job Title

7. Victims
Three-quarters of the victims were female
High school girls (ages 15-17) comprised 61% of the victims
Elementary and middle school students comprised 27% of the victims
Half of the victims were assaulted or harassed by serial perpetrators

8. Victims Most Common Victim Age Range is 14 to 17 10-13 is next
Most Incidents Occur On Campus (Bathroom, Windowless Offices, Vehicles, Closets)

9. Most Common Allegations
Breach of fiduciary duty
Negligent hiring
Negligent training

10. Lessons From Claims
Creating an environment in which appropriate educator-student boundaries are enforced
Creating an environment that encourages reporting

11. Lessons From Claims
Consider the following restrictions:
Private meetings on or off campus
Unobservable electronic communication
Inappropriate touching
Sharing noncurricular sexual conversation or imagery
Sharing inappropriate personal information

12. Lessons From Claims Student Training Age appropriate Comprehensive
Employee Training
Multiple formats, including scenarios
Address school policies and local and federal law

13. Lessons From Claims
Identify strong boundaries in the employee code of conduct.
Delineate the range of possible sanctions.
Enforce sanctions commensurate with the offense, with harsher sanctions for repeated boundary violations.

14. Lessons From Claims
Educators may allege defamation or wrongful termination for mishandled terminations.
Legal counsel can advise on contractual obligations and applicable law.

15. Lessons From Claims
Conduct thorough investigations.
When applicable, enforce appropriate sanctions.
Never sanction someone who in good faith reports alleged abuse.
Prohibit retaliation in student and employee handbooks.
If students or staff retaliate, take prompt remedial action.

16. Lessons From Claims
Retain copies of prior sexual misconduct policies indefinitely.
Establish a stakeholder group of administrators and board members. responsible for annually reviewing reports, extracting lessons, and implementing changes.