EMERYVILLE — In May, officials at the Emeryville Center of Community Life school learned of two possible sexual assaults involving juveniles on campus but did not alert police officials, prompting police to allege that the district had violated the state’s mandatory reporting laws.

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One dead after double shooting at East Bay shopping center But the Emeryville police chief later backpedaled on her claim that the district broke the law, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office decided there was insufficient evidence to file charges.

Little is known about the incidents because of the age of those involved, but the events have raised questions about whether school district officials followed state laws that require them to report any “reasonable suspicion” of abuse “immediately” to police or Child Protective Services. Reporting lapses have led to millions of dollars in settlements for victims throughout the Bay Area, but few mandatory reporting charges or convictions.

“I was very distraught when I first heard about this situation and am more troubled after hearing (Superintendent) Dr. John Rubio’s response,” said Emery Unified school board member Barbara Inch in an email. “I can’t help but feel serious changes need to be made.”

The controversy began May 1, when police were notified that a 13-year-old had allegedly performed lewd or lascivious acts on an 11-year-old at the ECCL campus, which combines school and community facilities. A week later, on May 8, police were notified that a 17-year-old had allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old at the campus. Charges are pending for the 17-year old in juvenile court, according to the authorities.

Rubio contacted this paper over the weekend and said the district notifies law enforcement agencies “whenever we have a reasonable suspicion of a reportable incident.”

“The two incidents you are referencing were not situations where reporting was mandatory, as confirmed by our legal counsel, as there was no reasonable suspicion by staff regarding either incident, in part due to the consensual nature and age of the students for one of the incidents,” Rubio wrote in an email.

The school district’s legal representative also sent a response to The Emeryville Tattler blog, which broke the story. The attorney told the blog in June that the district had no reporting failures.

“A school administrator uses their professional experience when determining whether there is a basis reasonably to suspect child abuse or neglect, and takes into account various factors, such as the ages of the student or students involved and the facts (e.g., whether the conduct was consensual),” read the emailed statement, which was shared with this newspaper.

In the statement, the attorney cited the penal code that requires mandated reporters to report if, “in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect.”

Bill Grimm, senior attorney at National Center for Youth Law, said the Emeryville school district does not understand its reporting duties.

“School personnel mistakenly believe that they need to conduct some investigation of suspected abuse/neglect before they report,” Grimm wrote in an email. “They are mandated reporters not investigators!”

Grimm added that the district’s legal counsel in his or her statement left out the definition of “reasonable suspicion” under the law, which states: “‘Reasonable suspicion’ does not require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred nor does it require a specific medical indication of child abuse or neglect; any ‘reasonable suspicion’ is sufficient.”

“Counsel conveniently omits this statutory definition of ‘reasonable suspicion’ and suggests that school officials have much more discretion than they have under the law,” Grimm wrote. “If in doubt, report! When will school officials learn to stop investigating and let the professionals — law enforcement and/or social services — conduct the investigation?”

Educators found guilty of failing to report suspected abuse can be sentenced to up to six months in jail and fined as much as $1,000. State law requires annual training of educational employees largely due to past reporting by this news organization of several districts’ reporting failures. The Emeryville district said it had completed its training.

The two incidents became the focus of a May 11 public safety committee meeting that included an exchange between Chief Jennifer Tejada and city councilmen John Bauters and Christian Patz.

Tejada tells them — according to audio of the recorded meeting — that her department is “taking care of the mandated reporting issues at the school.”

“Are you aware of crimes taking place for which you think people who are supposed to report are not reporting?” Bauters asks.

“Yes,” the chief responds. “And we came across these crimes not through school personnel who had previous knowledge of the crimes. Two separate crimes of a serious nature.”

She then confirms that both were sexual assaults.

However, Tejada’s tone changed dramatically last month.

“Our investigation confirmed the school staff connected to the two incidents have met the requirements of mandated reporters,” Tejada wrote in an email to this news agency. “Our investigation further determined that all school staff have met the ‘Mandated Reporter’ training requirements.”

Tejada confirmed that family members reported the allegations to police, not school employees. She said the charges are pending for the 17-year-old sex assault suspect in juvenile court, while prosecutors declined to file charges in the other juvenile case.

“Mandated reporting laws are not always black and white, and this is an area where further discussion was appropriate with the school to ensure that they always err on the side of caution,” Tejada said.

Emeryville police did submit a reporting failure case to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, but prosecutors declined to file any charges.

“We reviewed the police report and we determined there was not sufficient evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said.

Despite determining that no reporting violations had occurred, Chief Tejada stressed that school officials should not investigate sex assaults but rather contact police, who are experienced in conducting such probes.

“Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes, for obvious reasons,” she said. “It can be more traumatic for the victim if a person who is not trained in sexual assault investigation conducts an interview, and it can be very challenging for a person untrained in child interview/sexual assault techniques to determine if a crime has occurred, know what rights the victim has in terms of victim services, or know the best setting/place/time for the interview to occur.”