E-Alerts

Summer Updates For Massachusetts Independent Schools

[July 14, 2014]  Whether you think July 4 marks the official beginning or mid-point of summer, the 2014-2015 school year will be upon us before we know it!  Significant updates to the laws and regulations in Massachusetts governing Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plans and criminal background checks for employees, volunteers and contractors are now in effect.  We urge all schools to attend to the important tasks of updating these Plans and policies before students return to campus in September.

Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plans

Massachusetts recently amended its anti-bullying law to expand the protections afforded to students in public and private schools, effective July 2014.  Also, as amended last year, the anti-bullying law expanded the definition of “victim” to include school personnel.  In light of these changes to the law, Plans should now:

• Recognize that certain students and those associated with those students may be more vulnerable to being the target of bullying, based on a broader list of actual or perceived “protected characteristics;”
• Expand the scope of the Plan to afford protection to school personnel, in addition to students, who may be the target of bullying;
• Address bullying incident data collection and reporting requirements, if applicable.  (Note that many independent schools may not be covered by this particular requirement, unless the school accepts, through an agreement with a school committee, a child requiring special education)

Please let us know if you would like our assistance in revising and updating your school’s Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan.

Criminal Background Checks

In addition to the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks that schools already conduct, all public and private elementary and secondary schools in Massachusetts are now required to obtain national, fingerprint-based checks for the purpose of determining the suitability of current and prospective employees who may have “direct and unmonitored contact with children.”  More specifically, the new regulations require schools to obtain fingerprint-based checks for all full or part-time employees, substitute employees, student teachers, apprentices or interns who may have direct and unmonitored access to children, and for any individual who regularly provides school-related transportation to children.  Independent schools may obtain fingerprint-based checks on volunteers and subcontractors who perform work on school grounds or with students.

Schools are encouraged to send all covered personnel to vendor sites located across the state, or to arrange for the vendor to conduct checks on school campuses during the summer, before scanning sites become crowded as the school year approaches.  The Firm continues to recommend that Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI) checks also be conducted on school personnel who may have direct and unmonitored access to students.

The Firm offers a comprehensive criminal and sex offender background check  compliance package including a model policy and guidelines, a board resolution adopting the policy, an easy-to-reference checklist, consent forms, and information on correcting criminal records.

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Please feel free to contact a member of the Firm’s Education Practice Group if you have any questions regarding anti-bullying plans and/or background check policies.