The Guardian reported that an IT failure in the Queensland Education Department’s reporting system meant that 644 suspected cases of child abuse were not reported to the Police. The system was updated in January but a coding error in the program resulted in school principals receiving confirmations that reports had been received when they had not. Police are now conducting urgent welfare checks into the cases involving children deemed as potentially at immediate risk. An external review is underway into how an unchecked reporting system was rolled out.
The Church has been under fire from the Royal Commission recently for failures to report sexual abuse against children. The Guardian reported that more than one child abuse allegation every month was recorded by the Church, yet in 60 years none were reported them to Police. The Church has said that when there are nationally uniform mandatory reporting requirements the Church will ‘happily and willingly comply’.
ACT Education Minister Joy Burch has said that a reduction in school zone speed limits is being considered as police begin a ‘blitz’ targeting speeding and dangerous parking near schools. The ABC reported that last year over 1,372 infringement notices or cautions were issued to drivers in Canberra school zones, about six on every school day. In the ACT the speed limit in school zones is 40 km/h between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., however ACT Police Chief Rudi Lammars stated that many drivers pay no notice with one recently caught doing 102 km/h in a school zone.
The NAPLAN literacy and numeracy tests for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were introduced in 2008, however after this year’s results were released education experts are voicing concerns that students’ literacy and numeracy skills are not improving. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that some experts believe teaching needs to change if students’ performance is to significantly improve. NSW, Victoria and the ACT had the highest average results and Queensland and Western Australia are the only states that showed significant improvement.
The Illawarra Mercury reports that the Royal Commission has begun asking for submissions from groups and people in the Illawarra region with a direct experience of child abuse in schools to come forward before the August 31 deadline. Prominent religious and education leaders in the community have welcomed the move by the Commission.
In a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Children’s Law Centre, it has been alleged that a Kenton County deputy sheriff and school resource officer restrained an eight-year-old boy and nine-year-old-girl in three separate incidents. 7 News reported that according to the lawsuit, the deputy used handcuffs to shackle the arms of the two special needs students behind their backs causing pain and emotional trauma. According to the deputy, the students were ‘attempting to injure school staff’ and were handcuffed for up to 30 minutes.
A financial audit of a New Zealand school revealed that staff had made various cash withdrawals from ATMs and service stations over the past 18 months totalling $4,000, the NZ Herald reports. There were no invoices provided for these withdrawals and the staff failed to explain what they spent the money on. The audit revealed the school’s poor financial controls that lacked operational budgets, forecasts and management reports. The Ministry of Education will not be investigating the incidents saying that although an audit revealed poor financial administration, it didn’t indicate funds were improperly spent.
In a move that will save $13.5 million in transportation costs, 82 Chicago public schools will change their bell schedules when the new school year begins on September 8. Start times for 60 of the schools will be staggered, with both elementary and high school students hearing the first bell anywhere from 15 minutes to more than an hour earlier than normal, the Chicago Tribune reports. The school district has said that it will cut more than half of the school bus stops used to transport students, saving $2.3 million alone. There is opposition to the changes however, as they may disrupt working parents’ schedules and pre-existing after-school activities.