Shoop admonishes teachers and administrators to pay attention and take rumors, whispers, and oblique complaints, particularly from students, seriously. Often other students have known of a teacher-student relationship but were afraid to come forward out of a misguided loyalty to the student. Because socializing with students may be an appropriate means of establishing rapport, it is important to have districtwide policies in place that ensure prompt, professional investigation of complaints and incidents to determine their merit. School boards that do not have policies can look to the policies of other school districts for examples. The following suggestions come from the Department's guidelines and various commentators.
Effective policies clarify the nature of sexual misconduct with simple age-appropriate examples.
They specify grievance procedures that tell students, parents, and school employees where to file formal and informal complaints. They also include provisions for adequate, impartial, and timely investigation of complaints, including the opportunity to present evidence and witnesses. Effective policies also contain provisions to protect the victim's confidentiality and ensure no retaliation. Parties should be provided notice of the outcome of complaints, and the school should take steps to prevent recurrence of the problem. The policy and the problem of sexual misconduct should be discussed in all-school assemblies, orientations for new staff, and meetings with parents.