Background Information
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is responsible for investigating reports of suspected sexual conduct involving a student and an individual who is a school employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer who is not licensed with the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC). This obligation went into effect on July 1, 2020, after the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 155 (2019) and the Governor signed it into law.
In addition to investigating reports of sexual conduct, ODE is also responsible for providing verification information to education providers when they are hiring non-licensed school employees, and when they are accepting services from non-licensed school contractors, agents, and volunteers. Education providers are required to verify with ODE, prior to hiring or accepting services from a non-licensed individual, whether that individual has an ongoing investigation or a substantiated report of sexual conduct.
Reporting Suspected Sexual Conduct
Who can submit a report?
Anyone (educators, parents, members of the community, etc.) may submit a report of suspected sexual conduct to ODE.
Oregon law requires that a designated licensed administrator report to ODE any incident of suspected sexual conduct involving a student and a non-licensed school employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer. ORS 339.388(2).
NOTE: If the person submitting a sexual conduct report form is an educator, but is not the designated licensed administrator for the education provider, the law requires that you report suspected sexual conduct to the designated licensed administrator for your school/school district. See ORS 339.388(1).
How do I submit a report of suspected sexual conduct?
Please use the online
Sexual Conduct Report Form to submit a report of suspected sexual conduct involving a school employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer who is not licensed by TSPC.
Reports & Investigations of Sexual Conduct Unit
Oregon Department of Education
255 Capitol Street NE
Salem, OR 97310
If you need assistance in making a report of suspected sexual conduct or if you have questions about the form or the process, you may
email the RISC Unit or call (503) 947-4227.
Reports of suspected sexual conduct that involve a student and a school employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer who is licensed with the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) should be filed with TSPC. You can access the form to submit a report of sexual conduct
on the TSPC website or you can contact the agency by phone at 503-378-3586.
If you are not sure whether the individual involved in the report is licensed with TSPC, you may file a report with either TSPC or ODE. The two agencies will work together to make sure that the correct agency receives and responds to the report.
ODE is not a primary reporting agency for instances of abuse. If you need to report an incident of suspected physical or sexual abuse involving a child and a person who is a school employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer, please contact law enforcement or the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS). To make a report of abuse to DHS, please call the DHS hotline at 1-855-503-SAFE (7233).
If your report involves both sexual conduct and abuse, please file a report of abuse with DHS prior to filing a report of sexual conduct with ODE.
ODE does not accept anonymous reports from education providers. If you are an employee of an education provider, you must include your contact information because you are required by law to report suspected sexual conduct.
ODE will accept anonymous reports from members of the community. However, ODE strongly discourages anonymous reports as they impede the investigative process. Anonymous reports limit ODE's ability to investigate the allegations raised in the report, as ODE will not be able to speak with the person making the report. Under the law, documents and materials used in an investigation of suspected sexual conduct are confidential and not subject to public inspection. ORS 339.391(4).
No. ODE does not accept any evidence or attachments with a report of suspected sexual conduct. If you have documents or other evidence that you would like to submit to ODE, please indicate this on the report form. If the report is assigned for investigation, the assigned investigator will contact you to obtain any information or materials that are needed for the investigation.
After ODE receives a report of suspected sexual conduct, it will review the report to determine whether:
- The report alleges something that, if true, would constitute sexual conduct; and
- A school employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer who is not licensed with TSPC is alleged to have committed the sexual conduct.
If ODE determines that both of the above requirements are met, ODE will open an investigation and send notice to the education provider of the investigation.
ODE then investigates the allegations raised in the report. Unless there is good cause for a time extension, ODE will issue its final report within 90 calendar days of receiving the report of suspected sexual conduct.
An individual who receives a substantiated report of sexual conduct has a right to a hearing. If a report of suspected sexual conduct proceeds to an administrative hearing, the person who made the report may be asked to testify at the hearing.
Verification checks for applicants for school employment, contractors, agents and volunteers
Before hiring an individual who is not licensed with TSPC as a school employee, an education provider must verify with ODE whether the individual has an ongoing investigation or a substantiated report of sexual conduct. Similarly, before accepting services from any contractor, agent, or volunteer who is not licensed with TSPC, an education provider must verify with ODE whether the individual has an ongoing investigation or a substantiated report of sexual conduct. These requirements went into effect on July 1, 2020.
The online Sexual Misconduct Verification System (SMVS)
ODE has developed an online system for education providers to use to conduct verification checks prior to hiring a school employee or bringing on a contractor, agent or volunteer to provide services.
The Sexual Misconduct Verification System (SMVS) allows users instant access to the verification information that they need for non-licensed applicants for positions as school employees and non-licensed contractors, agents, and volunteers.
While ODE has built SMVS to eventually house verification information for both ODE and TSPC, the system does not currently contain any data from TSPC. At this time, you will not be able to search for TSPC-licensed individuals in the SMVS system. ODE will update this page to alert users once TSPC’s data is added to the system. Until the notification that users can search for TSPC licensed individuals in SMVS is made, users must continue to use TSPC’s eLicensing system to verify any licensed applicants for school employment or licensed contractors, agents, or volunteers.
The SMVS application is housed behind ODE's District website, which means that all users of SMVS must have an account in ODE's Central Login system with proper permissions to access the application.
Users associated with public institutions need to request access to SMVS through their local District Security Administrator (DSA). You can locate your local DSA by visiting the District website.
Individuals associated with private schools will need to request access to the system directly from ODE by submitting the SMVS Access Request Form.
ODE has created an SMVS User Guide that explains in detail how to use the system to conduct verification checks for applicants for school employment, contractors, agents, and volunteers who are not licensed with TSPC.
If you need help with gaining access to the system, please see the section on gaining access to SMVS above.
If you already have access to the system and have questions about how to use the system, you may email a member of the RISC Unit or call (503) 947-4227.
If already have access to the system, but are having difficulty with log on or other technical issues, please contact ODE's HelpDesk.
- Any users who are waiting for access to SMVS may submit verification requests to ODE by filling out this verification template indicating for which individuals the education provider needs verification. Completed verification templates should be submitted to ODE in one of two ways: Central Login's Secure File Transfer
- Select the following email address from the recipient list: ODE.ReportSexualMisconduct@ode.state.or.us
- Add your email address to “email of the person sending the file
- Attach the completed verification template to “file being sent"
- Click “send file"
- Sexual Conduct Secure File Transfer Form
- Fill out required fields and select “Verification Request" as the file transfer type
- Attached the completed verification template under “file attachments"
- Click “submit"
If you need assistance submitting a request for verification information or if you have questions about the verification process, you may email a member of the RISC Unit or call (503) 947-4227.
Definitions
“Agent" means a person acting as an agent for an education provider in a manner that requires the person to have direct, unsupervised contact with students.
“Contractor" means a person providing services to an education provider under a contract in a manner that requires the person to have direct, unsupervised contact with students.
“Education provider" means:
- A school district, as defined in ORS 332.002.
- The Oregon School for the Deaf.
- An educational program under the Youth Corrections Education Program.
- A public charter school, as defined in ORS 338.005.
- An education service district, as defined in ORS 334.003.
- Any state-operated program that provides educational services to students.
- A private school.
“Education provider" does not include:
- The Oregon Youth Authority;
- The Department of Corrections; or
- The Department of Education, except when functioning as an education provider on behalf of:
- The Oregon School for the Deaf;
- An educational program under the Youth Corrections Education Program; or
- A public charter school, as defined in ORS 338.005, that is sponsored by the Oregon Department of Education.
“Sexual conduct" means verbal or physical conduct or verbal, written or electronic communications by a school employee, a contractor, an agent or a volunteer that involve a student and that are:
- Sexual advances or requests for sexual favors directed toward the student; or
- Of a sexual nature that are directed toward the student or that have the effect of unreasonably interfering with the student's educational performance, or of creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
“Sexual conduct" does not include:
- Touching that is necessitated by the nature of the school employee's job duties or by the services required to be provided by the contractor, agent, or volunteer; and for which there is no sexual intent.
- Verbal, written or electronic communications that are provided as part of an education program that meets state educational standards or a policy approved by the school board.
- Conduct or communications between students if the school employee, contractor, agent or volunteer is a also a student and the conduct or communications arise out of a consensual relationship between students, do not create an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and are not prohibited by law, any policies of the education provider, or any applicable employment agreements.
Under ORS 339.370, “license" is defined as including “a license, registration or certificate issued by the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission."