AB 500 Requirement

Guidelines for Faculty/Staff/Administration Student Interactions:

In accordance with Assembly Bill 500 (AB500 – California Education Code 44050), effective January 1, 2018, the School has adopted the following guidelines (portions are also included in the School’s Employee Handbook).

POLICY ON PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES

St. Matthew’s has adopted this policy to promote student safety, well-being, and appropriate interactions within the School community. This policy also is intended to establish clear expectations that support positive and appropriate relationships, protect students from harm, and help promote appropriate professional boundaries among students, school employees, volunteers, and contractors. While positive, supportive relationships are an important component of student success, the School recognizes the importance of maintaining clear standards designed to safeguard students and promote a safe and supportive educational environment, whether on or off campus.

For purposes of this policy, personal and professional boundaries (“Boundaries”) are limits that govern interactions within the School community in order to promote a safe and nurturing environment for students. Boundaries define the appropriate roles, behaviors, and expectations between:

Students and school employees, volunteers, and contractors;
Among and between students; and
Among and between adults employed by, volunteering for, or under contract with the School.

Boundaries are intended to:

Protect student safety and well-being;
Prevent abuse of authority, exploitation, favoritism, or inappropriate conduct;
Promote interactions that are consistent with legitimate educational purposes; and
Maintain community trust in the integrity of the School.

A violation of an individual’s personal/professional Boundaries may occur when conduct exceeds appropriate role expectations, creates an appearance of impropriety, compromises supervision, or undermines the School’s obligation to provide a safe and supportive learning environment.

This policy is intended to supplement, and not replace, other School policies governing employee and student conduct, including but not limited to policies pertaining to harassment (including sexual harassment), discrimination, retaliation, mandated reporting, and employee/student misconduct that may be set forth in this Employee Handbook and/or the Parent/Student Handbook.

Boundaries Between “Covered Adults” and Students

Individuals employed by, volunteering for, and under contract with the School (“Covered Adults”) are entrusted to educate students, provide a supportive learning environment, promote student growth and success, and model the values of the School at all times. While Covered Adults are encouraged to develop positive, friendly, and supportive relationships with students, there is an innate power imbalance in the relationship between an employee and student, which must not be abused. Covered Adults are required to maintain appropriate boundaries with students at all times, whether on or away from campus. In maintaining professional Boundaries, Covered Adults must consider how their actions and words may be perceived by others, and must take care to avoid intimidation, abuse of authority, excessive attention, and any other conduct that is not an appropriate adult/student interaction or could be perceived as such.

Below are rules Covered Adults must follow regarding maintaining appropriate Boundaries with students. These rules are not an exhaustive list, but rather a general framework for describing inappropriate and appropriate interactions. The School may take corrective action, including discipline, for any conduct that the School determines is not in keeping with the School’s expectations for appropriate adult/student interactions.

Covered Adults have an obligation to model, through both language and behavior, the values and expectations of the School, and to comply with this policy. Disagreeing with the wording or intent of this policy does not excuse strict compliance with this policy and will be considered irrelevant for disciplinary purposes. If a Covered Adult finds themselves in a difficult situation related to Boundaries, or has questions related to these protocols and requirements, they should consult the Head of School or a supervisor. Anyone who becomes aware of another Covered Adult failing to adhere to this policy, must immediately report the matter to the Head of School or a supervisor. The School has the right to investigate compliance with this policy even if no report has been made.

A. General Requirements:

All Covered Adults must:

Maintain professional, moral, and ethical relationships with students that support student well-being and the School’s educational mission.
Promote interactions with students that are appropriate to the school context and do not create an appearance of impropriety. Any interaction with a student must be something that would be appropriate to say or do in front of that student’s parents, the Head of School, and the individual’s supervisor.
Communicate and behave in ways that respect student dignity, safety, and personal space.
Exercise discretion and engage with students only for legitimate educational or School-related reasons.
Notify his/her/their supervisor or the Head of School immediately if a student shares confidential or other information that could pose a threat to the student or others, and make a report of suspected child abuse or neglect as appropriate and in keeping with the School’s child abuse reporting policy and mandated reporting laws.

B. Romantic or Sexually Related Conduct

Covered Adults are strictly prohibited from engaging in romantic or sexually related conduct with any student, regardless of age or consent. This includes, but is not limited to:

Any flirtatious, sexual, or romantic interactions with students or conduct which a student may reasonably perceive as flirtatious, sexual, or romantic. This includes sexual remarks, innuendo, or sexualized jokes or sexual physical contact.
Talking explicitly about sexual topics without a legitimate educational purpose.
Personal comments about a student’s body, sexual slurs, or spreading sexual rumors.

One-on-One Interactions and Off-Campus Contact

If meeting with a student one-on-one, Covered Adults must balance potential privacy concerns with appropriate professionalism and should meet in a location that is visible, accessible, and/or audible to others (e.g., door open, windows unobstructed).
Covered Adults are prohibited from meeting with students off campus unless it is a pre-approved School activity with other individuals present or, if Covered Adults are meeting with students to plan school events or gatherings, the employee must first obtain the permission of the School administration and the students’ parents or guardians. This does not apply to a Covered Adult that is also a student’s parent, acting in the Covered Adult’s capacity as a parent.
Covered Adults must obtain written approval in advance from School administration and the student’s parent or guardian before conducting instruction outside of the normal School day.

D. Transportation of Students

Covered Adults are prohibited from transporting students in a personal vehicle absent School authorization.
This restriction does not apply to a Covered Adult who is also the student’s parent or guardian, or who is transporting students in their capacity as a parent or guardian of a student’s peer group, provided such transportation occurs outside the scope of the individual’s School role.
Under no circumstances may transportation be used as an opportunity for private, unsupervised interactions that could create safety concerns or the appearance of impropriety.

E. Physical Conduct

Covered Adults must respect students’ personal space and generally maintain appropriate physical distance.
Physical contact with students should be limited. Acceptable contact may include a handshake or high five.
Brief, non-intrusive contact (such as a hug) may be appropriate in limited circumstances, such as graduation or to comfort a distressed preschool or younger elementary student, depending on the circumstances.

F. Emotional Boundaries and Personal Disclosures

Covered Adults must:

Avoid creating excessive emotional attachments beyond a healthy adult–student relationship and must not rely on students for emotional support.
Use sound judgment as to how much information they share with students about their own personal lives and must, in turn, refrain from asking students about overly personal information (i.e., not sharing any information about romantic and sexual experiences, personal problems, or other types of private or sensitive information that is inappropriate to share.)
Not ask students about overly personal matters unrelated to a legitimate educational purpose.
Consult their supervisor or the Head of School promptly if a student is or seems to be pushing his/her/their or another Covered Adult’s personal boundaries, or attempting to establish an inappropriate relationship.

G. Favoritism or Special Treatment

Covered Adults:

Must avoid favoritism, special treatment, or excessive attention toward particular students.
May not give personal gifts to individual students or provide rewards or incentives unrelated to School activities, particularly where something is implicitly or explicitly expected in return.

H. Electronic Communications

Covered Adults are generally prohibited from using personal, rather than School technology devices and email accounts, to contact a student and shall use School-approved platforms and School accounts whenever possible. If it is necessary to contact a student using a personal device for a School-related reason, the Covered Adult must copy a supervisor or another administrator on the communication.
Any communications with students (e.g., notes, email, texts or other electronic exchanges, or phone calls) must be for School-related reasons only and must be professional in all respects. Examples of conduct that may violate this policy, depending on the circumstances, include communication with students during late hours or on non-school days, and communication about inappropriate personal or non-school-related subjects.
- For Lower School: One-to-one electronic communication with a student without a student’s parent/guardian consent are prohibited. Communications must occur only through School-approved platforms or methods that include or are visible to the parent/guardian when feasible. This does not include grading or providing feedback on a classroom assignment on a platform (e.g., Google Classroom) where a School administrator and/or parent/guardian have access.
- For Middle School: One-to-one electronic communications without the parent/guardian included should be avoided and are permitted only for School-related reasons using School-approved platforms or with administrative oversight (e.g., copying an administrator or using a system that archives messages). This does not include grading or providing feedback on a classroom assignment on a platform (e.g., Google Classroom) where a School administrator and/or parent/guardian have access.
Except in an emergency or for an urgent School-related/safety-related reason, communications with students should occur between M-F 6:00 am. and 8:00 pm. Communications outside these hours are presumptively inappropriate and must be reported to/approved by an administrator as soon as practicable.
Covered Adults shall not request, require, or solicit a student’s personal phone number, personal email address, or social media handle, and employees shall not provide their personal phone number, personal email, or personal social media contact information to students, except as expressly authorized by the School for School-related reasons.
Covered Adults are prohibited from liking or otherwise commenting on social media posts made by students, and are prohibited from following, friending/connecting with, or direct messaging students using personal social media accounts

I. Photographs and Videos

Covered Adults are permitted to take photographs and videos of students participating in School-related activities for the purpose of sharing them with the School community. The following rules and requirements apply when taking photographs and video of School students:

Covered Adults may not take photos or video of students without their knowledge.
All photos and video taken of students must be taken for the purpose of documenting student activities to share with the School community or post on the School’s website or School-authorized publications.
Covered Adults are expected to exercise good judgment when taking photos and videos of students, be mindful of not displaying favoritism (e.g., not taking more photos of certain students than others). Covered Adults should generally refrain from taking selfies with students.
Photos and videos of students may not be stored on Covered Adults’ personal electronic devices. Photos and videos of students must be uploaded to Vidagami and deleted from the Covered Adult’s personal electronic device within seven days after the photo or video is taken.
At no time may photos or videos of students be shared with individuals outside of the School community.

Boundaries Among Employees

The following section outlines the School’s expectations regarding professional Boundaries among adults employed by, volunteering for, or under contract with the School (“Covered Adults”). Maintaining appropriate professional Boundaries is essential to promoting student safety, effective supervision, a positive educational environment, and modeling appropriate conduct for students.

The standards below provide guidance regarding appropriate and inappropriate conduct among employees, volunteers, and contractors. These standards are not exhaustive and are meant to supplement, not replace, other policies such as harassment, discrimination, retaliation, workplace violence, bullying and abusive conduct, and other standards of conduct.

Generally, all employees, volunteers, and contractors must:

Conduct themselves in a professional, respectful, and ethical manner in all School-related interactions.
Interact with colleagues, volunteers, contractors, families, and community members in a manner that promotes a safe, orderly, and supportive environment for students.
Maintain Boundaries that support effective supervision of students and prevent conduct that could compromise student safety.
Promptly report conduct by another employee, volunteer, or contractor that may violate this policy.

The School will take appropriate action to address violations of this policy. Employees, volunteers, and contractors with any questions about this policy should direct them to the Head of School.