Montomery County School Board passes new policy for handling child abuse cases
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) -On Monday night the Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously passed a new policy on how it will deal with alleged child abuse.
The policy is meant to force school system employees to report suspected cases of abuse to authorities faster and more often.
The new policy is, in part, a response to high profile cases of inappropriate touching at MCPS schools that came to light this past school year.
In one case, a substitute teacher, Jose Pineda, wound up being sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to inappropriately touching three middle school students.
MCPS was criticized for not informing parents quickly enough in that case.
The new policy requires the school system to work with police and child welfare groups to determine if the community needs to be warned.
Among other things, the policy also said the school system must:
Report all suspected sexual abuse to police and take immediate steps to protect all students from an alleged abuser.