CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- The Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Social Services Board, a governing body for the Department of Social Services, gathered Monday for a regularly scheduled meeting.
CBS 6 attended looking for answers as to why Child Protective Services did not report to law enforcement allegations, according to police, that a preschool teacher at Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy physically assaulted five students in a special needs classroom.
CBS 6 previously requested an interview with Social Services Director Kiva Rogers to discuss the matter but was told Rogers was unavailable.
During the meeting, the issue was not brought up during the open session. The board moved to a closed session and CBS 6 had to leave the room.
Once the meeting adjourned, CBS 6 returned to the board room, but Rogers was no longer there.
“I’m not sure if she is available to speak with you, but she has left the meeting," reporter Tyler Layne was told.
Layne tried following up with Rogers through phone calls but did not get an answer.
Last week, CBS 6 spoke with Carl Ayers, the Deputy Commissioner of Human Services at the Virginia Department of Social Services, which oversees local departments, about how cases are generally handled.
Ayers spoke to the process, policy, and state code but could not comment on the specifics of the case in Chesterfield.
“So, child protective services is, everything is in the interpretation of what information is being reported," Ayers said.
Virginia State Code requires that child protective services report to law enforcement and the Commonwealth's Attorney any injury or threatened injury to a child that rises to the level of a class 1 misdemeanor or a felony. In this case, the teacher is charged with 12 counts of assault and battery which are class 1 misdemeanors.
“If we get those complaints that allege that, then our responsibility is to get that in the hands of law enforcement," Ayers said. "If you're just looking at the mandated reporter section, it very clearly says in there if it's a class one misdemeanor or felony that it's your duty to report it."
But Ayers said you also have to consider:
- How did the complaint come to CPS?
- How did the assessor, the person who received the complaint, interpret it?
“How it plays out in practice is dependent upon the receiver of the report," Ayers said. "So the screener has to determine whether it's a felony or whether they feel like it meets a felony or class one misdemeanor."
He added, “That’s why you can’t just say, 'Oh well we heard this.' Well, what was the information that was actually reported? In the reporter’s assessment of that information, did it rise to meet that criteria?”
In this case, court documents did reveal how the complaint was reported.
According to a search warrant, the filed CPS report, which was obtained by police, showed a witness reported to CPS that the teacher spanked the kids, grabbed them by the back of the necks, pulled them to the floor, and smacked their faces.
The alleged assaults happened in November and August 2022. However, police said they only found out in March 2023 when a parent learned that the teacher was allowed to come back to the school. That upset parent, who said they assumed that the school and CPS would've already alerted police, then went to the police.
Police executed a search warrant on the school district for records related to the case and then arrested and charged the teacher with 12 charges.
Speaking generally, Ayers said CPS workers, when receiving a complaint, take additional considerations when an allegation involves a school employee. For example, workers would consider whether the employee was taking reasonable action to protect themselves or others.
"If you have a complaint out of a family setting, like a school or daycare or something along those lines, there are limiting criteria that say you have to look at the reasonable interactions of who was the teacher, who was the aide, who was the bus driver? For whoever it was that was taking that action, was it keeping that child safe, were their actions appropriate for the job that they were doing, along those lines, all those go into account before you make a referral," he said.
However, Ayers said additional considerations for school employees are part of CPS policy and not part of the state code, which is clear about mandatory reporting. So hypothetically, a case could be screened out according to CPS policy but still be required to be referred to law enforcement.
"Those are two different things," Ayers said about CPS policy versus state code. "They do not go hand in hand."
Ayers said the state provides oversight of localities to ensure that cases are being handled appropriately.
"We are constantly looking at cases. We are constantly reviewing cases. We constantly provide technical assistance out to our jurisdictions around the cases. What are they screening and what are those decisions from that end of it," Ayers said.
On the state level, under the CPS program, Ayers said there's a manager, five staff members in regional offices, and a couple of staff members in home offices.
Ayers said it's impossible for the state to oversee every call that comes in.
"That's just not a realistic conversation. We have to look at capacity," he said. "How are we funded? How are we resourced? And what do those supports look like from a state level to help each of those 120 local departments?"
He added, "The reality is this is what the state oversight for CPS looks like, and if we want to look at more cases, we want to have a bigger state footprint on that, then you have to invest in a larger state staff."
Ayers said localities are struggling with staffing shortages, increased caseloads, and the complexity of the cases they handle and that they want more help from the state.
A Chesterfield County spokesperson said the county would not be making any comments about the case at this time.
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
EAT IT, VIRGINIA restaurant news and interviews
