As per Jacobs, the thought of the abuse her daughter faced from a teacher’s aide still haunts her. Jacobs noticed that her daughter stopped smiling around two years into high school. This was unusual behavior for Jacobs’ daughter, who was always cheerful. Jacobs recollected the times when her daughter cried while going to school, which was not typical of her daughter.
Nicholas Alan Claus was taken into custody in November 2021 for engaging in sexual misconduct with a special needs student named Ava. He admitted his guilt in the matter and ultimately accepted a plea bargain.
Jacobs is advocating for a reform at the State Capitol. The current state law mandates that school administrators conduct a background check on prospective employees and make an effort to reach out to their previous employers.
Jacobs argues that many school districts are not complying with the intent of the law, as they are not making a sincere effort to communicate with past employers in order to prevent potential liability in the event that an employee is involved in a crime, such as child abuse.
According to Jacobs, schools and other public entities are immune to legal action if one of their employees commits a felony, as long as they were not aware of the employee’s criminal tendencies. “I discovered that there is a provision for immunity in cases where a public entity’s employee commits a felony, unless the entity had knowledge of their propensity for such crimes,” Jacobs stated.
In Southern Arizona, there was a case where the Tucson Unified School District hired a teacher’s aide who was found to have naked pictures of a student with special needs on his computer, as pointed out by the speaker.
According to reports, the student’s family brought a lawsuit against the district citing negligence on their part. They alleged that the school administrators failed to properly communicate with the aide’s previous employer who had fired him for sexual abuse. Despite these claims, the court ruled that the school district was immune from any liability.
According to Jacobs, it is not a valid excuse for schools to claim they were unaware of an employee’s predatory behavior because they failed to contact previous employers. Neglecting due diligence in such cases sets a dangerous precedent.
Parents would be allowed to file a lawsuit against school districts under SB 1435 if their child is sexually abused and the school administrators fail to reasonably investigate or take appropriate action in response to an alleged violation of written policy concerning a child’s safety.
According to Rep. Nancy Gutierrez (D-Tucson), safeguarding the safety and welfare of children is her topmost concern. However, she strongly believes that imposing flawed policies is unacceptable. In her opinion, the current legislation is an example of bad policy.
