An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 12 - Investigations

5. S PECIAL C ONSIDERATIONS W HEN I NTERVIEWING S TUDENTS Investigations conducted by or on behalf of schools often include student witnesses. Students are often witnesses either because the student is accused of misconduct, the alleged target of misconduct, or a witness to alleged misconduct directed towards another student or employee. For example, students are often key witnesses where a teacher’s alleged misconduct involves allegations he or she acted improperly towards students, such as yelling at students, engaging in corporal punishment, making inappropriate comments, inappropriate touching, sexual conduct, or other improprieties. Students may also be witnesses to allegations against other students, such as bullying, sexual harassment, cheating, plagiarism and other similar violations of school rules. Schools and the investigators conducting investigations on behalf of the school face unique challenges when called upon to interview students. First, given the power structure involved and the authority of teachers, students may be fearful to speak out regarding employee misconduct. Second, with young witnesses, investigators must be particularly careful not to lead the witnesses, because young witnesses tend to be more impressionable, less confident in their perceptions of what occurred, and more susceptible to changing their story and telling the investigator what they believe the investigator wants to hear. As a result, in addition to the strategies and protocols discussed above, the school should consider utilizing the following steps when interviewing students:  Place the accused employee on a non-disciplinary paid administrative leave to create a less threatening environment within which to conduct the investigation.

 Where it will not affect the integrity or any required timelines of the investigation or create any additional risks, delay student interviews until the students are no longer subject to the authority/grading of the teacher that is the subject of the investigation. For example, if only a very short period of time remains until the semester ends, the investigator might schedule the interviews so students are interviewed after the semester ends and teachers have submitted grades.  Take particular care to admonish the accused regarding the prohibitions against retaliation and advise the student/witness of what to do if he or she feels retaliatory conduct is occurring.  Have another neutral adult present when interviewing a student. If the student has an adult he or she trusts at the school, the school might consider having that adult attend the interview. However, this will generally not be appropriate if the trusted adult is a peer and colleague of the employee being investigated.  When interviewing a minor, parental notification and /or consent is not required, but might be appropriate or highly advisable depending on the nature of the investigation, parent expectations, and other circumstances. Whether the school contacts parents before the interview also depends on an assessment of whether this will facilitate the interview. Where the school

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