Policy proposes reporting cases to superintendent
SMMUSD HDQTRS A new district policy will mandate that the superintendent be notified of all sexual abuse allegations involving students, the proposed rule following criticism that a 2006 sexual molestation claim involving a recently arrested Lincoln Middle School teacher went unreported to top administrators.
The Board of Education is scheduled to adopt a number of changes to the Child Abuse Prevention and Reporting Policy at its meeting tonight.
The action might be postponed to late July at the request of an ad hoc committee which has been reviewing related district protocol and procedures since early this month.
The pending rules come as the district’s policy has been criticized by parents for a loophole that allowed a 2006 sexual molestation claim to go unreported to district leaders.
Thomas Beltran, who taught for nearly 30 years in the district, was arrested in early May on sexual molestation allegations, one of which was investigated by then Principal Kathy Scott in 2006. In the days following Beltran’s arrest, a letter from Scott to the police department regarding the investigation was forwarded to the Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District, which did not have a copy on file. The letter states that the school had received a report from a student who said she was uncomfortable remaining in Beltran’s class because of the way he was touching her.
The March 2006 letter mentions that Scott discussed the situation with Beltran who was upset that his actions were misinterpreted. Scott advised Beltran, who taught English as a Second Language, not to touch any of his female students to protect himself from further misinterpretation.
The teacher was never charged in the incident because there was insufficient evidence to tie him to a crime, but those allegations have since been folded into the case.
Beltran has been charged with sexual molestation claims involving eight students, incidents dating back to 2000.
One of the biggest policy changes comes in the reporting procedures, requiring that the principal file a confidential incident report form and report it to the superintendent.
“The superintendent will be required to keep all cases,” Mike Matthews, the assistant superintendent for human resources, said. “We just think it’s good practice.”
Another change will make it the district’s responsibility to provide abuse prevention curriculum to ensure all children are educated on child abuse, learning ways in which they can identify an unsafe situation.
“It’s our responsibility to have curriculum at every level,” Matthews said.
Changes could also be in store for the sexual harassment policy, which is scheduled to come before the board for the first round of discussions on Thursday.
The staff will recommend that cases of sexual harassment be reported to the superintendent through the confidential incident report form.
The policy will also require that employees avoid closed-door meetings with only one student after school. The policy addresses incidents involving students.
The policy revisions were studied following the formation of an ad hoc committee in May, the district inviting a group of parents and teachers to review existing procedures.
“The work of the parents has resulted in a policy that will strengthen reporting and accountability on the part of both teachers and administrators to ensure the safety of our children,” school board President Oscar de la Torre said.
The ad hoc committee met last Thursday to review the proposed changes.
Michael Chwe, a Lincoln parent and ad hoc committee member, said that more discussion is needed before the district rushes into adopting a new policy.
“A new policy is required immediately, but at the same time, the purpose of establishing a new policy should be to better protect the children in the SMMUSD, not to simply make the SMMUSD appear more responsive,” Chwe said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 26, 2008. Read the original PDF.