AR Handbook – 79
e. Taking, or attempting to take,
personal property or money
from another pupil, or from his/
her presence, by means of force
or fear;
f. Willfully causing, or attempting
to cause, substantial damage to
school property;
g. Participation in an unauthorized
occupancy by any group of
pupils or others of any part of
any school or other building
owned by any school district,
and failure to leave such school
or other facility promptly after
having been directed to do so
by the principal or other person
then in charge of such building
or facility;
h. Incitement which is intended to
and does result in unauthorized
occupation by any group of
pupils or others of any part of a
school or other facility owned by
any school district; and
i. Incitement which is intended
to and does result in truancy by
other pupils.
Any pupil who commits an assault
upon a school employee acting in
the performance of his/her duties
shall be immediately suspended
from school consistent with procedural
due process pending expulsion
proceedings. (These proceedings
shall take place not later than
21 calendar days following the date
of suspension.)
Paraphrased from 18A:37-2.
Child abuse – statutory
definitions
State law has defined child abuse
as a wide range of offenses against
children. Under a 1915 law, abuse
includes habitual use of profanity
on the part of a parent and the
employment of a child in a job that
would be detrimental to his health
or morals. The 1977 law defines an
abused child as one who is physically,
emotionally, sexually abused, or
one who is neglected or abandoned.
Physical Abuse
A child is to be considered physically
abused when a parent or caretaker
inflicts or allows to be inflicted physical
injuries such as welts, bruises,
cuts, broken bones, skull fractures,
burns, poisoning, or soft-tissue
injury.
Sexual Abuse
A child is to be considered sexually
abused when a parent or parent
substitute rapes the child, inflicts
injury to the child’s genitals, anus,
breasts, or mouth through coital and
non-coital intercourse, insertion
of objects, manipulation, sodomy,
exploitation, and/or exhibitionism.
Emotional Maltreatment
Consists of acts of commission or
omission which subject a child to a
negative atmosphere in which he/
she feels consistently unworthy,
unloved, unwanted, or insecure,
lacking a positive family relationship.
Examples include but are not
limited to chronic ridicule, threats,
preference of one child over another,
cruel punishment such as tying-up,
involving a child in begging, keeping
a child out of school to perform excessive
household tasks, and excluding
a child from recreation suited to
children of his age.
Neglect
Neglect includes inadequate supervision;
leaving a child alone
when his/her mental or physical
conditions do not permit him/her
to care for him/herself, allowing a
child to experience danger to his life,
health, mental or social adjustment
by failing to provide food, clothing,
shelter, education, health care, or
supervision.
Abandonment
Occurs when an unidentified child
is found to be unattended with no
evidence of where and to whom the
child belongs and some indication
the caretaker does not intend to
assume responsibility for the child.
In some instances an unidentified
child is found in a place or physical
condition indicating the child was
left for dead.
The 1986 Law extended the definition
to include the use of excessive
physical restraint.
Identifying the
Abused Child
Next to parents, school employees
are most frequently in contact with
children. The unique relationships
and frequent contact between school
employees and students make it possible
for school employees to identify
the symptoms of child abuse and
neglect. Early detection is the first
step in helping children. In addition
to signs of physical abuse, school
employees should look for:
• Marked changes in attitude
• Poor classroom performance
• Disruptive behavior
• Withdrawn behavior
• Increased or abnormal
absenteeism
• Nervous behaviors
• Frequent complaints of pain
• Malnourishment
• Absence of needed medical care
• Tiredness
• Ill clothed/dirty