Sexual Abuse in Independent Schools & DOL White Collar Overtime Rule

Two important pieces of information have come to my attention in the past several days that I want to pass along to MISBO schools and all who find this helpful.

There has been much in the news about student safety and risk management especially in reference to sexual misconduct. Please read the message below from NAIS that contains valuable information as well as additional resources.

Improving Child Protection by NAIS

NAIS has also encouraged its members to review their procedures for addressing allegations of abuse or misconduct. The association has created and curated a number of resources to help schools develop strong prevention programs and understand their mandatory reporting obligations if someone discloses abuse that happened recently or in the distant past.

To access the resources go to http://connect.nais.org.

• If you have already signed up for NAIS Connect or if you have a log-on for the main NAIS website, just enter that username and password.
• If you do not yet have a username and password, please create a profile. Professionals at schools that are not members of NAIS will be able to access several open communities. If you need help with your login, please contact schoolupdate@nais.org.
• In the grey navigation bar, click on “Communities” and then on “All Communities”
• Scroll down the list of communities until you see “NAIS Open Forum.” Click the JOIN button.
• Once you join, you will be able to view and participate in discussions and review documents in the library. This community will also serve as a forum for discussion of other important issues in independent education.

Additionally, most of you are aware of the new Department of Labor regulations about overtime and exemptions. The Department of Labor has sent its final regulations about wage and hour overtime and exemptions to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a last review before release. OMB reviews take four to six weeks, so the final regulations will likely be released in April or May. Please follow the link below for more information.

DOL’s White Collar Overtime Rule Advances by Michael J. Lotito and Ilyse Schuman

We will continue to pass along information as it becomes available.

Marc Levinson
Former Executive Director, MISBO