NWA EDITORIAL | Interpretation of mandatory reporting law lets Huntsville educators off the hook, for now - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

What’s the point?

Deeper investigation into the events surrounding allegations of abuse in Huntsville schools is necessary to ensure everyone did what was necessary to protect kids.

The last thing anyone wants is for someone who has dedicated their lives to educating children to face a criminal charge ... unless ...

It's good news from the Washington County Prosecutor's Office that the investigation into allegations of abuse involving members of a Huntsville school basketball team remains active as new information comes to light. Just a few weeks ago, Matt Durrett announced no charges would be filed against school officials who knew about the allegations, even though they are "mandatory reporters," according to state law, when they learn of abuse allegations involving children.

None of the school officials made the call to the Child Maltreatment Hotline as information surfaced suggesting the abuse occurred. Durrett, based on reports by law enforcement officials, determined what school officials knew did not fit a state statue describing the circumstances under which a call to the hotline is mandated.

By now, most readers know the horrible story out of Huntsville, where older basketball players are alleged to have "baptized" other players by holding them down and placing their genitals on the restrained players' faces. Such behaviors, and others, are reported to have occurred several times during basketball season.

Educators who have reasonable cause to believe a child has been subjected to maltreatment are required by law to report the information to the state, so that an investigation can then sort out the details and determine whether a child needs protection or if someone mistreating a child needs to be held accountable.

But what is maltreatment?

Durrett determined that because no sexual gratification was involved, the activities did not meet state definitions that require educators report maltreatment.

We continue to scratch our heads on how educators faced with this situation went through the convoluted legal maze of state laws, then evaluated that nobody was sexually gratified, before relieving themselves of the duty to report. It seems highly suspect.

Durrett himself has said the "prudent thing to do is err on the side of caution and file a report." But his finding is, so far, that the educators did not have a legal requirement to do so.

That has others in the state scratching their heads, too. Johnny Key, Arkansas' secretary of education, said the case suggests state laws need to be reviewed and revised if reporting is mandatory based solely on the question of sexual gratification. "A significant component of sexual abuse is about exerting power over someone else," Key said.

State Sen. Bob Ballinger of Ozark, whose representation covers Huntsville, agreed, saying teachers jobs don't need to be harder, but the state passed the mandatory reporting law for a reason, and that includes acting in the best interests of children.

"It was a terrible situation of bullying manifesting itself in almost the ugliest forms there are. And, I think people treated it too much like it was boys being overly aggressive, a little bit of that whole boys being boys thing," he said. "If you want to try to get rid of that type of behavior, you've got to take it really seriously and treat it like it's a really serious matter, and I feel like it wasn't done that way," Ballinger said.

Ballinger makes the excellent point that educators ought to look into such situations while asking "If it were my child this was happening to, would I want it reported?"

Whether current law required the reporting, the educators had a moral duty to do it. It remains an open question whether they chose not to report in hopes of keeping the situation under wraps.

If Durrett's interpretation of state law is accurate, it's a sad commentary on the thoroughness of that law that such egregious abuses as were reported in Huntsville were not enough to trigger the reporting requirement.

We've heard educators say it before: A child cannot learn well in an environment in which he or she feels unsafe. First and foremost, educators must jealously seek to protect their students from harm while they're within the school environment.

That's part of their mission whether a law mandates it or not. If the prosecutor learns these educators knew more than they've let on -- and he's suggested that could be the case -- then the decision should be simple: Prosecute.

source: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/may/09/nwa-editorial-interpretation-of-mandatory/

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