Principal was acquitted and charges were dropped against the teacher. 
Sept 10, 2007 -
Carolyn Harralson, the principal at Rountree Elementary School, is scheduled to go on trial Monday on charges she failed to report allegations of child abuse.
Harralson is accused of not calling a state child abuse hotline after being told that gym teacher Mark Washam had inappropriate contact with several students.
A Department of Social Services investigation found evidence that Harralson knew about the allegations at least a month before someone else called the hotline in March 2006. She was removed as principal in June.
The teacher, Mark Washam, was charged at the same time as Harralson, faces four counts of misdemeanor sexual misconduct and five counts of third- degree assault, also a misdemeanor.
The failure to report is a MISDEMEANOR, which could result in up to a year in jail and up to $1,000 in fines. Harralson is still employed by the school district.
Nov 2 - Charges against Mark Washam were dropped. And Principal Carolyn Harralson was acquitted by a jury of charges that she violated the state's mandated reporter law. Found in an editorial entitled, "Mandated reporting law needs to change." The newspaper advocates "decriminalizing" mandated reporting laws. Their point is that mandated reporters fear prosecution and inundate the hot line.
With the specter of criminal prosecution hanging over their heads, too many mandated reporters ignore the professional judgment they learned from years of training and instead blindly follow a law they find harmful.TT - Does that last make sense at all? Mandated reporting laws are harmful to children or teachers? What professional judgement? By comparison, the comments at the news story were thoughtful.
I agree that juries often do not uphold the spirit or intent of the law because for reasons outside of the expectations of "the law"- but this does not mean the law in and of itself is a failure....perhaps it is the attitude we have toward our shared responsibilities to each other to hold each other accountable for not turning a blind eye to true abuse that needs to change.One asked, "So you think "decriminalizing" a failure to report suspected cases of abuse will increase reporting? "
