Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 730 - INVESTIGATION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT IN OUT OF FAMILY COMPLAINTS › Part II - Policy › Article 1 - Out of Family Investigation Policy › Section 22VAC40-730-115 - Procedures for conducting an investigation of a teacher, principal, or other person employed by a local school board or employed in a nonresidential school operated by the Commonwealth

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Each local department of social services
					 and local school division shall adopt a written interagency agreement as a
					 protocol for investigating child abuse and neglect reports against school
					 personnel. The interagency agreement shall be based on recommended procedures
					 for conducting investigations developed by the Departments of Education and
					 Social Services.
B. These
					 procedures for investigating school personnel amplify or clarify other Child
					 Protection Services regulations.
1. If a
					 teacher, principal, or other person employed by a local school board or
					 employed in a school operated by the Commonwealth is suspected of abusing or
					 neglecting a child in the course of his educational employment, the complaint
					 shall be investigated in accordance with §§
												63.2-1503,
					 63.2-1505,
					 and
					 63.2-1516.1
					 of the Code of Virginia. Pursuant to §
												22.1-279.1
					 of the Code of Virginia, no teacher, principal, or other person employed by a
					 school board or employed in a school operated by the Commonwealth shall subject
					 a student to corporal punishment. However, this prohibition of corporal
					 punishment shall not be deemed to prevent (i) the use of incidental, minor, or
					 reasonable physical contact or other actions designed to maintain order and
					 control; (ii) the use of reasonable and necessary force to quell a disturbance
					 or remove a student from the scene of a disturbance that threatens physical
					 injury to persons or damage to property; (iii) the use of reasonable and
					 necessary force to prevent a student from inflicting physical harm on himself;
					 (iv) the use of reasonable and necessary force for self-defense or the defense
					 of others; or (v) the use of reasonable and necessary force to obtain
					 possession of weapons or other dangerous objects or controlled substances or
					 paraphernalia that are upon the person of the student or within the student's
					 control. In determining whether the actions of a teacher, principal, or other
					 person employed by a school board or employed in a school operated by the
					 Commonwealth are within the exceptions provided in this subsection, the local
					 department shall examine whether the actions at the time of the event that were
					 made by such person were reasonable.
2. If the local department determines that
					 the alleged abuser's actions were within the scope of his employment and were
					 taken in good faith in the course of supervision, care, or discipline of
					 students, then the standard for determining a founded finding of abuse or
					 neglect is whether such acts or omissions constituted gross negligence or
					 willful misconduct.