House OKs Bill Improving Protection of Students from Child Abuse, Sexual Misconduct in Schools

Stamford state Rep. William Tong, (D-147) co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, led the House of Representatives Friday in passing a bill he introduced that will help protect children from child abuse and sexual misconduct in Connecticut schools.

“The bill arose out of an incident in Stamford involving a principal, an assistant principal, teachers and other administrators that unfortunately brought a great black eye to the City of Stamford,” Tong said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we’re seeing other incidents around Connecticut like this where school personnel are not immediately reporting suspected cases, which has made this legislation all the more important.”

The passage of the bill comes on the heels of the announcements earlier this week that Stamford Schools Superintendent Winifred Hamilton will retire at the end of the year and that a new principal has been hired for Stamford High School that has been beleaguered by the teacher-student sex scandal for nearly a year. So far, an assistant school superintendent has resigned and termination proceedings are going forward for the former principal and two assistant principals for their roles in the incident. Former teacher Danielle Watkins is serving a five-year prison term after pleading guilty to sexual assault.

The legislation enhances reporting and training requirements for school employees, increasing penalties for failure to report as mandated and increasing accountability for boards of education and the Department of Children and Families concerning mandated reporting.

“As the new House chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee this year, this was the first bill that I wanted to introduce and lead to passage. That’s how important it was to me,” Tong (D-Stamford, Darien) said.

House Bill 6186, An Act Protecting School Children, now goes to the Senate.

“It is my fervent hope that this bill will send the strongest message possible that Connecticut will not tolerate the failure to report child abuse and sexual misconduct in our schools,” Tong said. “Failure to report incidents is not only morally wrong, it is legally wrong and can result in the loss of a career.”

Contributed photo: State Rep. William Tong.