Staff/Student Relations

FILE: GBH

Critical

STAFF/STUDENT RELATIONS

Definition

Educational Purpose: A reason associated with the staff member's duties in the district including, but not limited to: counseling, the treatment of a student's physical injury, orcoordination of an extracurricular activity, depending on the staff member's job description.

Staff Member: For the purposes of this policy, a staff member is any individual employed by the district, including part-time and substitute employees and student teachers.

Student: Individuals currently enrolled in the New Franklin R-1School District.

General

Staff members are expected to maintain courteous and professional relationships with students. All staff members have a responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learningthrough consistently and fairly applied discipline and the maintenance of physical and emotional boundaries with students. These boundaries must be maintained regardless of the student'sage, the location of the activity, whether the student allegedly consents to the relationship or whether the staff member directly supervises the student. Maintaining these boundaries is anessential requirement for employment in the district.

Although this policy applies to the relationships between staff members and district students, staff members who inappropriately interact with any child may be disciplined orterminated when the district determines such action is necessary to protect students.

Absolute Prohibitions

There are some interactions between staff members and students that are never acceptable and are absolutely prohibited including, but not limited to:

1. Touching, caressing, fondling or kissing students in a sexual or sexually intimate manner.

2. Dating a student or discussing ·or planning a future romantic or sexual relationship with a student. The district may presume that this provision has been violated if a staff member beginsa dating or sexual relationship with a student immediately after graduation or immediately after a student has left the district.

3. Making sexual advances toward a student or engaging in a sexual relationship with a student.

4. Engaging in any conduct that constitutes illegal harassment or discrimination as defined in policy AC or that could constitute a violation of that policy if pervasive.

   1. Engaging in any conduct that violates Board policies, regulations or procedures or constitutes criminal behavior.

Exceptions to This Policy

The goal of this policy is to protect students from harm and staff members from allegations of misconduct by requiring staff members to maintain professional boundaries withstudents. The district does not intend to interfere with or impede appropriate interactions between staff members and students.

An emergency situation or an educational purpose might justify deviation from some of the professional boundaries set out in this policy. Likewise, staff members might be related tostudents or have contact with students outside the school environment through friends, neighborhood or community activities, or participation in civic, religious or other organizations.These contacts might justify deviation from some of the standards set in this policy, but under no circumstance will an educational or other purpose justify deviating from the "AbsoluteProhibitions" section of this policy.

The staff member must be prepared to articulate the reason for any deviation from the requirements of this policy and must demonstrate that he or she has maintained an appropriate relationship with the student. To avoid confusion, the district encourages staff members to consult with their supervisors prior to engaging in behaviors or activities that might violate professional boundaries as defined in this policy.

Electronic Communication

Staff members are encouraged to communicate with students and parents/guardians for educational purposes using a variety of effective methods, including electronic communication.As with other forms of communication, staff members must maintain professional boundaries with students while using electronic communication regardless of whether thecommunication methods are provided by the district or the staff member uses his or her own personal electronic communication devices, accounts, webpages or other forms of electroniccommunication.

The district's policies, regulations, procedures and expectations regarding in-person communications at school and during the school day also apply to electronic communication s foreducational purposes, regardless of when those communications occur. Staff communications must be professional , and student communication s must be appropriate. Staff membersmay only communicate with individual students electronically for educational purposes between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Staff members may use electroniccommunication with students only as frequently as necessary to accomplish the educational purpose. Electronic notification in mass would be allowed for emergency cancellations ofschool activities outside these hours.

1. When communicating electronically with students for educational purposes, staff members should use district-provided devices, accounts and forms of communication (such ascomputers, phones, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and district-sponsored webpages or social networking sites), when available. If district-provided devices, accounts and formsof communication are unavailable, staff members communicating electronically with students must do so in accordance with number two below. Staff members may communicatewith students using district-provided forms of communication without first obtaining supervisor approval. These communications may be monitored. With district permission, staffmembers may establish websites or other accounts on behalf of the district that enable communications between staff members and students or parents/guardians. Any such website oraccount is considered district sponsored and must be professional and conform to all district policies, regulations and procedures.

2. A staff member's supervisor may authorize a staff member to communicate with students using the staff member's personal telephone numbers, addresses, webpages or accounts(including, but not limited to, accounts used for texting) to organize or facilitate a district-sponsored class or activity if the communication is determined necessary or beneficial ,if a district-sponsored form of communication is not available, and if the communication is related to the class or activity. Staff members would be required to send thecommunications simultaneously to the supervisor if directed to do so. Staff members are required to provide . their supervisors with all education-related communications withdistrict students upon request.

3. Staff use of any electronic communication is subject to the district's policies, regulations and procedures including, but not limited to, policies, regulations, procedures and legalrequirements governing the confidentiality and release of information about identifiable students. Employees who obtain pictures or other information about identifiable studentsthrough their connections with the district are prohibited from posting such pictures or information on personal websites or personal social networking websites without permissionfrom a supervisor.

4. The district discourages staff members from communicating with students electronically for reasons other than educational and school related activities purposes. When an electroniccommunication is not for educational purposes, the section of this policy titled "Exceptions to This Policy" applies, and if concerns are raised, the staff member must be prepared todemonstrate that the communications are appropriate. This policy does not limit staff members from communicating with their children, stepchildren or other persons livingwithin the staff member's home who happen to be students of the district.

Consequences

Staff members who violate this policy will be disciplined , up to and including termination of employment. Depending on the circumstances, the district may report staff members to lawenforcement and the Children's Division (CD) of the Department of Social Services for further investigation, and the district may seek revocation of a staff member's license(s) with theDepartment of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

Reporting

Any person, including a student, who has concerns about or is uncomfortable with a relationship or activities between a staff member and a student should bring this concern immediately tothe attention of the principal, counselor or staff member's supervisor. If illegal discrimination or harassment is suspected, the process in policy AC will be followed.

Any staff member who possesses knowledge or evidence of possible violations of this policy must immediately make a report to the district's administration. All staff members who knowor have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse shall immediately report the suspected abuse in accordance with Board policy. Staff members must also immediately report a violationor · perceived violation of the district's discrimination and harassment policy (AC) to the district's nondiscrimination compliance officer. Staff members may be disciplined for failing tomake such reports.

The district will not discipline, terminate or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against a staff member for reporting in good faith any action that may be a violation of this policy.

Training

The district will provide training to district staff that includes current and reliable information on identifying signs of sexual abuse in children and potentially abusive relationships betweenchildren and adults. The training will emphasize legal reporting requirements and cover how to establish an atmosphere where students feel comfortable discussing matters related to abuse.

Adopted : Sept. 8, 2004

Revised:

2/17/2010

2/ 15/2012

Cross Refs:

AC, Prohibition Against Illegal Discrimination and Harassment

JG, Student Discipline

JHG, Reporting and Investigating Child Abuse/Neglect

Legal Refs:

' ' 162.069, 168.114, 210.115, RSMo. Ross v. Robb, 662 S.W.2d 257 (1983)

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. ' 1681

Davis v. Monroe County Ed. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629 (1999)

Gebser v. Lago Vista Ind. Sch. Dist., 524 U.S. 274 (1998)

New Franklin R-I School District, New Franklin, Missouri