Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told the daily newspaper that the Escambia County School District will have available next August an online application for anonymously reporting misconduct like bullying, harassment and sexual incidents. Principals will be sent emails on the tips, then district officials and law enforcement would then be alerted.
I would suggest that School Resource Officer get the information that same time the principal does.
The other proactive measure by Thomas will to have the State Attorney’s Office coordinate training for middle and high school principals and deans about age statutes when it comes to sex crimes. Apparently the Tate principal and Ms. Carolyn Spooner, his boss, didn’t understand that 14 year olds can’t have consensual sex and there isn’t anything in the procedures about finding out the age of the alleged victim.
Thomas still contends that it was proper for the Tate officials to conduct an investigation and question the students several times, after they told the SRO about it. This policy is the opposite of how Santa Rosa County handles it, according to their assistant superintendent.
