OOLOGAH-TALALA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

REPORTING SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE
AND/OR NEGLECT

In accordance with Oklahoma law, any person is required to immediately report suspected cases of physical abuse or neglect involving students under the age of eighteen (18) to the statewide toll free hotline of the Department of Human Services and local law enforcement. The statewide DHS hotline number is 1-800-522-3511. Any person having reason to believe that a student age eighteen (18) or older is a victim of abuse or neglect shall immediately report the matter to local law enforcement. The board of education fully supports that requirement and has established this policy to facilitate such reporting.

Every teacher, support person, or other employee of this school district shall immediately report any suspected physical, mental, or sexual abuse or neglect of any school student to the Department of Human Services by telephone. The employee shall also inform the building principal who will advise the superintendent that the report was made using Form FFG-E.

“Child Abuse and Neglect” shall include, but is not limited to:

1. Child abuse as defined in Section 843.5 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
2. Sexual abuse or sexual exploitation as defined in Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes;
3. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor as defined in Section 856 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
4. Trafficking in children, as defined in Section 866 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
5. Incest as described in Section 885 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
6. Forcible sodomy, as described in Section 888 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
7. Maliciously, forcibly or fraudulently taking or enticing a child away, as described in Section 891 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
8. Soliciting or aiding a minor child to perform or showing, exhibiting, loaning or distributing obscene material or child pornography, as described in Section 1021 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
9. Procuring or causing the participation of any minor child in any child pornography or knowingly possessing, procuring or manufacturing child pornography, as described in Section 1021.2 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
10. Permitting or consenting the participation of a minor child in any child pornography, as described in Section 1021.3 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
11. Facilitating, encouraging, offering or soliciting sexual conduct with a minor, as described in Section 1040.13a of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
12. Offering or offering to secure a minor child for the purposes of prostitution or any other lewd or indecent act, as described in Section 1087 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
13. Causing, inducing, persuading or encouraging a minor child to engage or continue to engage in prostitution, as described in Section 1088 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
14. Rape or rape by instrumentation, as described in Sections 1111.1 and 1114 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
15. Making any oral, written or electronically or computer-generated lewd or indecent proposals to a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) as described in Section 1123 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

The reporting obligations under this section are individual, and no employer, supervisor or administrator of a person required to provide information pursuant to this section shall discharge, or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against, any such person who in good faith provides such child abuse reports or information, testifies, or is about to testify in any proceeding involving child abuse or neglect; provided, that such person did not perpetrate or inflict such abuse or neglect. Any such employer, supervisor, or administrator who discharges, discriminates, or retaliates against such person shall be liable for damages, costs, and attorney fees. Any person who knowingly and willfully fails to promptly report any incident of child abuse may be reported to local law enforcement for criminal investigation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who knowingly and willfully makes a false report, or makes a report that the person knows lacks factual foundation may be reported by the Department of Human Services to local law enforcement for criminal investigation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any person participating in good faith and exercising due care in the making of a report or any person who, in good faith and exercising due care, allows access to a child by persons authorized to investigate a report concerning the child shall have immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. Any such participant shall have the same immunity from any liability with respect to participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from such report.

A school employee with knowledge that a report has been made shall not disclose information identifying the reporting employee unless otherwise ordered by the court or as part of an investigation by local law enforcement or the Department.

The school district shall post, in a clearly visible location in a public area of the school that is readily accessible to all students, a sign in English and Spanish that contains the toll-free number operated by the Department of Human Services.

REFERENCE: 10A O.S. § 1-2-101

  10A O.S. § 1-2-104

  63 O.S. §1-120 (G)

  70 O.S. §1210.162

  Atty. Gen. Op. No. 78-202 (Dec. 28, 1978)

Adoption Date: June 13, 2022 Revision Date(s):