State Requires Schools to Report Child Abuse : Law: Employees must call in evidence or reliable reports of neglect or abuse immediately. L.A. district also has its own system for conforming to law.

Procedures for school officials to report cases of suspected child abuse by anyone are spelled out in state law.

In addition, the Los Angeles Unified School District has its own system for ensuring that all its employees are familiar with the law and know what their responsibilities are.

School employees must report evidence or reliable reports of neglect or of physical, sexual or emotional abuse immediately by telephone to a child protective agency. In Los Angeles, that is local police, the Sheriff’s Department or the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services. The telephoned information must be followed up within 36 hours by a written report on a state-supplied form.

Once a case is reported, district officials said, they generally take their cue from the investigating agency on how to proceed or what the school’s further role should be.

Those who fail to follow the proper procedures are subject to criminal prosecution. All new district employees are required to sign a statement that they are familiar with the reporting law and that they will report suspected cases as required.

In the early 1980s, the Los Angeles district developed its reporting policy with the assistance of a project known as CARE--Child Abuse: Recognize and Eliminate.

The CARE program, headed by former teacher Shayla Lever, provides intensive training for teachers, other staff members and parents in 152 of the district’s elementary schools.

Lever said one of the most difficult aspects of child abuse is getting people to recognize what is and is not abuse, along with the need to be specific.

For example, it is not against the law for a parent to spank a child; however, any injury that resulted from the spanking would be considered child abuse and must be reported. Vague statements cannot be reported, she said. If someone accused a teacher of touching a student in a way that was “inappropriate,” it would be up to the principal, for instance, to determine just what was touched and how before deciding whether the incident should be reported.

Lever said the district’s policy was already in place when teacher Terry Bartholome was accused in 1984 of molesting several of his third-grade students at 68th Street Elementary School in South-Central Los Angeles. Bartholome was later convicted and sentenced to 44 years in state prison.

She noted that a district administrator was convicted of a misdemeanor for not properly reporting the students’ allegations against Bartholome. The administrator’s conviction was overturned on appeal.