Education

Audit: K-12 school department failed to investigate 22 child abuse reports

“A breakdown in communication between DESE and DCF began in February 2020 and continued undetected for 41 months."

Bus file photo. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

September 10, 2025

3 minutes to read

The state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education failed to investigate 22 supported child abuse reports in recent years, according to a state audit published last month.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office audited DESE, which oversees pre-K through high school education, between July of 2021 and 2023. The audit, released Aug. 26, also found that DESE slacked when supporting districts with special education plans and supports for LGBTQ students.

The department failed to follow up with the Department of Child and Families to get comprehensive information from supported reports of child abuse, the audit found.

When “allegations of child abuse and neglect are made within a school setting,” the auditor said, DESE should receive those reports from DCF. Reports go through an initial screening process; those found to warrant further investigation are referred to as “supported reports.”

When the pandemic began, DESE explained in the audit, DCF stopped receiving paper copy records.

“A breakdown in communication between DESE and DCF began in February 2020 and continued undetected for 41 months, which included the entire audit period,” the audit said. “As a result, potentially serious and substantiated findings of child abuse or neglect, possibly involving licensed educators, remain unexamined and unaddressed.”

The audit said 35 of the 79 reports from the time period involved licensed educators, and DESE has opened investigations for 13. In the case of reports that didn’t involve licensed educators, DESE said it created person of interest files if those individuals were to apply for an educator license.

That left 22 cases with supported child abuse reports uninvestigated, the audit said. DESE said it is “reviewing the remaining reports and will take appropriate action.” As of July 2023, DCF is now electronically sending the reports, and DESE “has set up internal monthly alerts to confirm receipt of the prior month’s reports from DCF,” the audit said.

“The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is committed to making schools safe and welcoming spaces for all students,” said Jacqueline Reis, a DESE spokesperson. “The Department has addressed the findings in the auditor’s report and will continue to look for ways to improve.”

Audit: Delays addressing special education, LGBTQ concerns

The audit also revealed that DESE did not resolve special education complaints within the required 60-day timeframe and didn’t confirm districts implemented corrective action plans regarding special education.

Around 28 percent of complaints that DESE should investigate and resolve were delayed, with an average delay of around 111 days, according to the audit. DESE increased staffing and revised procedures to decrease delays, the department told the auditor.

“Delays in investigating and resolving special education complaints prevent students from receiving the timely support and services that they are entitled to under federal law, which may negatively impact their educational progress,” the audit said. “These delays can also leave caregivers feeling frustrated and unheard, eroding trust in DESE’s complaint resolution process.”

Additionally, DESE failed to follow up on implemented special education corrective action plans. In one case the audit pointed to, DESE took 11 months to ensure a school district had implemented a corrective action plan.

While federal regulations allow up to one year to correct noncompliance, DESE has much shorter timeframes for specific corrective actions. In response to the delays, DESE pointed to the federal guidelines and called their due dates “interim” for districts.

The audit found that DESE failed to fulfill key responsibilities to the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth by not issuing annual materials to school leaders or conducting a biennial presentation to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education about creating safe and supportive environments for LGBTQ students.

DESE also didn’t ensure that all districts received the Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ Students training, “including some that had requested it,” the audit said. DESE acknowledged the concerns to the auditor’s office, which said it will follow up in six months.

“The Commission appreciates the Auditor for her devotion to intersectional inclusion across the Commonwealth,” Shaplaie Brooks, executive director of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, said in a statement. “We remain excited to see the fruit of this partnership (with DESE) even in these challenging times in our country.”

In April, DESE hired Pedro Martinez to serve as the new commissioner of DESE, which spent more than a year without a permanent leader.

Read the entire audit here.