Reporting and Child Abuse Policy

Abuse Tolerance 

Geneva School of Boerne has a zero tolerance for abuse and neglect (physical, emotional or sexual), as well as discrimination, harassment and retaliation in School programs and activities.

Suspicious or Inappropriate Behavior and Abuse

The School supports and encourages a culture of communication related to abuse or suspected abuse of children. Staff members and volunteers are required to report any policy violations or suspicious behaviors to a supervisor or the HOS within a 24-hour period. This includes partial or inconclusive information concerning behavior, which may or may not be blameless.

Prohibited behaviors include:

• Inappropriate interaction between children
• Grooming behavior (Because sexual abusers groom children for abuse, it is possible a staff member or volunteer may witness behavior intended to prepare a child or a gatekeeper for sexual abuse.)
• Any inappropriate or suspicious behavior of a volunteer, parent, colleague or co-worker, including unsuitable behavior modeling

It is not the responsibility of the School or its employees to investigate the nature of abuse or of reasonable suspicions of abuse. This is the responsibility of trained personnel in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and/or law enforcement.

Procedures for Reporting Abuse or Suspicions of Abuse 

As the School is committed to providing a safe, secure environment for children and their families, any report of suspicious or inappropriate behaviors (as described above), or when there is reasonable cause to believe abuse or neglect has occurred, must be taken seriously and reported, in accordance with Federal and State law, to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and your headmaster, director or HOS within a 24-hour period.

The following steps will be followed for reporting suspicions of abuse or neglect:

• The employee must make a report to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (https://www.dfps.texas.gov/Contact_Us/report_abuse.asp) within 24 hours. The employee may not delegate to or rely on another person to make the report.
• If an employee observes or has a reasonable cause to believe that a child has been abused (physical, emotional or sexual) or neglected, he or she must immediately report the suspected abuse to the headmaster, division head or the HOS.

Failure to report a prohibited act to supervisory personnel as designated in this policy is a violation of this policy and grounds for termination of employment.

Reports of Student Bullying, Discrimination or Harassment 

The School supports and requires a culture free of discrimination or harassment. Staff members and volunteers are required to report any knowledge or suspicious behaviors to a supervisor or the HOS within a 24-hour period that relates to discrimination, harassing or bullying behavior by or against a student. This includes partial or inconclusive information concerning behavior, which may or may not be blameless.

Prohibited harassment of a student is defined as physical, verbal or nonverbal conduct based on the student’s race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, disability, age, or any other basis prohibited by law that is determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person’s equal access to the School’s educational programs or activities. Prohibited conduct includes dating violence and sexual assault.

Sexual harassment of a student by any person is prohibited and must be immediately reported to the division director, headmaster or the HOS.

Bullying is defined as a "single significant act" or a pattern of behavior. It involves unwanted, aggressive behavior that exploits a power imbalance. This includes physical harm (hitting, kicking, taking property), verbal abuse (teasing, threats, name-calling), social/relational bullying (rumor spreading, exclusion), and cyberbullying (electronic communication devices such as phones, internet, social media).

Enforcement of Policies 

Violations of these policies are grounds for reassignment, disciplinary action or immediate dismissal. Final employment decisions related to policy violations will be the responsibility of the HOS, and in the case of violations by the HOS, the President of the Board of Trustees.

Consequences of Prohibited/Harmful Act

Any person accused of committing a prohibited act or any act considered by the School to be harmful to a child will be immediately suspended from all child interaction and school-related activities. This suspension will continue during any investigation by law enforcement or the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Any person found to have committed a prohibited act will be prohibited from future participation as a staff member or volunteer in all activities and programming that involves children, students or vulnerable populations at the School. Such conduct may also result in termination of employment.

In accordance with 22A.301, Texas Education Code, the HOS will notify the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) about an employee’s criminal history or if the employee resigned or was terminated, and if the staff or faculty member either (1) abused or committed any unlawful act with a student or minor; (2) was involved in a romantic relationship with or solicited or engaged in sexual contact with a student or minor; (3) engaged in inappropriate communication with a student or minor; (4) failed to maintain appropriate boundaries with a student or minor. The HOS must make this report within 48 hours from knowing about the alleged misconduct. In addition, anyone who knows that a private school employee has engaged or is engaging in such conduct is authorized to file the report with the SBEC.